Fire station history to be celebrated
Doors open at Hellems Avenue landmark Saturday as part of Culture Days agenda
Decades of history lie untouched inside Welland Central Fire Station, and now, thanks to the efforts of the Central Station Education Initiative, the community will have a chance to glimpse that history for the first time in more than a decade.
Built in 1919, at a cost of
$45,851, the three-storey brick hall on the corner of Division Street and Hellems Avenue served as a city fire station for nearly a century until its closure in 2006.
Since then the building, its brass poles, aging pump truck and decades of history has sat silent, with volunteers pushing to preserve the site as a heritage display.
In July the city officially provided a lease to the non-profit Central Station Education Initiative (CSEI) to preserve the architecturally-unique station as a heritage display, a living-time capsule of sorts reflecting the station during its early days in the mid-20th century. Now, with a lease in hand, and the efforts of volunteers to tidy the main floor of the building ahead of restoration efforts, CSEI is flinging open the doors Saturday to celebrate as part of Culture Days.
“This is will be the before picture,” said CSEI member Nora Reid, speaking from the building where volunteers have been busy removing chipped paint, sweeping away decades of dust and removing debris.
“There’s been so many volunteer hours put into this project,” said Reid, adding, “it has been a labour of love.”
The initiative has been working to preserve the building since 2013 when the city first began retaining consultants to map out the future of the property. Public engagement during that time resoundingly called for a firefighting museum, however, the costs of restoring the building to museum code were prohibitive, with CSEI deciding instead on a heritage display.
Saturday’s open house, the first in a series of celebrations leading up to the building’s 100th anniversary in 2020, will allow residents access to the first floor and its artifacts.
“It’s a cultural celebration of the history,” said Reid.
Both bay doors will be open, with historic fire trucks, including the station’s 1957 American LaFrance Quad Pumper, on display on Hellems Avenue. The
street will be closed between East Main and Division streets for the event running 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event will also feature hotdogs and hamburgers served up by city councillors, a commemoration ceremony at 11 a.m., a custom motorcycle display and 1920s-inspired musical entertainment from the likes of The Velvetones, Heather Glabb and the a cappella quartet Jaq.
“This is going to be a jewel for the city of Welland,” said CSEI member and retired volunteer firefighter Gilles Boisvert.
The building is a unique example of early 20th-century Edwardian classic style architecture with an unusual Romanbasilica floor plan featuring hexagonal apses at either end of the building, which sits at a 45-degree angle across the property. Other architectural features include wrapping oak staircases, wood sash windows, cornices with dormers carved into fire helmets, and the old tower used to dry fire hoses topped with a working four-faceted clock.
“There’s nothing in the region to match it,” said Boisvert.
The celebration was made possible by a Niagara Investment in Culture grant, and will be an opening for restoration efforts as CSEI works to build funds and a volunteer base to move forward on the first phase of restoration efforts that will include HVAC system repairs and washroom renovations.