As planned, the fire brigade, police station, security service and tenants in the three apartments moved to the new building on Gsteigstrasse 14 on 1 November.

The ideal location for the police ...
The Gstaad police station and other members are now housed in a new leased building that belongs to the municipality of Saanen. Offices for the 13 employees working for the Bern Cantonal Police are on the first floor.

Dino Dal Farra, media spokesman for the Bern Cantonal Police, said that the new location on the main road has advantages from a policing point of view. It’s a good idea to have a police station on a connecting road, in this case, running from north to south. “This allows patrols to get out faster and arrive at the scene a lot quicker.” From this point of view, the new location has a distinct advantage over the old one. “Also, the fact that the fire department’s depot is in the same building makes it easier to coordinate operations for certain events.” Last but not least, in terms of infrastructure, the new building has rooms equipped with the latest technology.

... and fire brigade
When asked to comment, fire brigade commander Christian Brand said that the new location was ideal for the Saanen fire brigade too. The move went smoothly. Previously, the fire brigade depot in Saanen was cleared and, shortly before the move, the same happened for the depot in Gstaad. The fire brigade depot is on the ground floor in the new building. The three double gates have been designed to meet the height specifications of the new vehicles with auto aerial ladders. The offices, toilets and cloakrooms are located on the mezzanine floor. The district police and fire brigade will share a room on the upper floor: The fire brigade will be using this as a training area and the police as an administrative reporting room.

An open day in the spring
The fire brigade is planning an open day in spring 2019 along with the Bern Cantonal Police, although an exact date has not yet been set. A national Swiss Fire Brigade Day will also take place in August 2019, in which Saanen will participate.

Justine Hewson / AvS