Our cute little art deco fire station is too cramped for a modern fire fighting force, and is scheduled to replacement thanks to the fire facilities levy that was passed by voters in 2003.
The city has purchased the lot on the southwest corner of MLK & Jackson, and designs for the new building there are now 60% complete. The two-story, 11,235 square foot fire house will sit right on the corner, with equipment bays that face MLK and a parking area that will sit on the west side of the lot.
Here’s the updated renderings:
Looking south across Jackson:
Looking west across MLK:
The second-floor of the southern section of the building will contain a large space for firefighters to live, including a large kitchen, a day room with TV and seating for 9, a gym, 8 bunk rooms, 4 bathrooms with showers, and outdoor terraces on the east and west sides.
The first-floor living space will contain the station office area, two private offices and sleeping quarters for officers, two more full bathrooms, and a lot of storage space for gear.
The labels for images above are not correct. They should be the other way around.
I get that some great citizens have been part of the design process. I get that the best way for the trucks to exit is on MLK. I understand that no one want to live above a fire station and that cost (as always) is an issue. And I want to thank the neighborhood citizens who have been part of the process for doing what they can to make this a good project.
But it is a shame that this city building is not adding anything to what “should” be a lively, walkable city street. Jackson has some potential, but the scale is so screwed up there with the giant out-of-scale strip malls and all the churches creating dead space six days a week.
As a property owner near Jackson, I am just a little heart broken that this bit of the city is so dysfunctional and that the city’s new development (WELCOME FIREFIGHTERS!), isn’t going to do much except perhaps make dealing drugs in the parking lot of the mini-mart across the street less appealing.
I’m out of the loop. What is happening to the cute little building that currently houses the station on yesler?
You’re right – fixed
The exterior of the old station is a protected landmark and cannot be changed. Once the fire department moves out, the city will offer it for sale, probably to a non-profit.
I agree with Knox. It’s too bad that this building is not particularly interesting, and in fact, is extremely plain. It doesn’t add anything to the neighborhood. One would hope that with a substantial financial investment into a new building such as this one, that it could serve a dual purpose: It could be a practical fire station and also help to beautify or add interest to the neighborhood. Can any of this still be addressed and worked on? Of course, I don’t know what materials they’ve actually chosen for the exterior of the building. Maybe it’s marble!
And I also want to welcome the firefighters to the neighborhood. It will be great to have them so close by.
Are those windows facing Jackson? If so, that would liven up the street more than a wall. How fun it would be to look in and see the fire engines and fire-fighters doing cleaning/maintenance work! I could imagine that being a major walk-by destination for the stroller-set. I hope that the medians include daffodils – the ones outside the current station on Yesler are so great.
Thanks for the update, Scott.