The City of Burnaby is taking action to protect Burnaby residents in the event of an emergency or widespread power outage by installing two emergency power generators – one at the Bonsor Recreation Complex and one at the Edmonds Community Centre.
The generators will provide full emergency power to the facilities, including running hot water in washrooms and showers, ensuring Burnaby residents have a place to access services during extended outages and emergencies.
“This project is about building a more resilient community, and ensuring we have the capacity to protect our residents in the event of an emergency,” said Mayor Mike Hurley. “Our region is an earthquake zone, and climate change continues to make weather events more frequent and more severe. Being prepared for these scenarios will save lives.”
The two facilities were selected for installation of emergency generators based on a number of factors, including:
- Edmonds Community Centre is the largest civic facility in the southeast quadrant.
- Bonsor Recreation Centre is the largest civic facility in the City’s southwest and most densely populated quadrant.
- Both facilities are equipped with large open dry spaces, washroom facilities and showers with accessible stalls and kitchens.
- Both facilities have easy access to transit, as well as areas for public parking.
Work is now underway to install the generators, with the project expected to be complete in 2022.
New recreation facilities in the northwest and northeast of Burnaby are currently in the planning stages. Emergency generators will be included as part of these projects.