The city of St. Catharines breaking ground on a new fire hall for Merritton.

Mayor Brian McMullan was on hand noting the new firehall shows the city's commitment to public safety while focusing on efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

The new fire hall on Merritt Street near Oakdale replaces the oldest fire hall in the city.

At 16 thousand square feet it will be nearly four times larger and will include a workout room, emergency showers and other amenities to maintain equipment on the site.

The building will also be more energy efficient with LED lighting and a water recovery system designed to capture, store and reuse water during training exercises, saving hundreds of thousands of liters of water from going down the drain each year.

The new station is set to open in the spring of 2013.