FIRESTATION 62 COMMUNITY CENTER
Mar Vista, California
This project restores the Fire Station 62 to its fullest potential to attract local families, children, social programs and artists to participate, create, and imagine the future of their community.
Communities are beautiful because they are created slowly; they are made little by little, by the people who live there. Mar Vista is one such community. Its identity is built by its residents -- the artists and the families who cherish their neighborhood and seek to create something of their own.
In the effort to allow Mar Vista to reach it fullest potential, a group of community volunteers formed a non-profit organization, Friends of the Historic Fire Station 62. A few years ago, the board of directors acknowledged the station had the potential to be repurposed in other ways to support the community.
During my initial site visits, I quickly noticed the presence of hazardous materials, graffiti, as well as roofs and windows that were in desperate need of repair. I determined that while these issues required immediate attention, elements in other parts of the building could be kept as is.
In my opinion, it is important to maintain the historic integrity of a structure, so I imagined leaving some graffiti and reusing certain materials from the firemen’s old furniture like their storage cabinets. I envisioned the apparatus room, where the trucks once parked, becoming a flexible social space. The room runs from one end to the other, measuring 100 feet with tall ceilings and plenty of natural light. On days when there are no large public events, the space makes use of a divider which turns it into smaller spaces.
I recognized that in working on a project such as this that one of my responsibilities as an architect is to make the project functional and safe. The first priority is to upgrade the interiors to current building codes, install new bathroom fixtures, provide accessibility, and equip the building with sustainable heating, cooling, and lighting systems. But another objective is to modernize the building and bring it into the present.
I envisioned colorful patterned murals to be painted on the walls of the building and grounds of the parking lot. These were themed murals, inspired by the greens of local landscapes or the blues of the Bigbelly project. The painting of the murals would be a community effort. I also planned a series of small rooms on the south side: a visitor center, preparatory kitchen, an exit corridor, bathrooms, meeting room and a seminar room. The hose tower, measuring with monumental dimensions, instills feelings of awe. It is disproportionally tall because it was where the firemen used to hang their hoses to dry. I designed a skylight chimney to filter light so that artworks designed by the community can be displayed without the damaging effects from the harmful rays of natural light.
When I presented these ideas to the board members, they loved it. They were encouraged by the project's optimistic vision of getting the community involved during the renovation process.
The board has been raising awareness and organizing a fundraising effort to raise the resources necessary to qualify for an option-to-lease from the city of Los Angeles. With the vision of community leaders such as Councilman Mike Bonin, and the past and current board of directors, the project will maintain its historical character while preparing it for use by the entire community.
