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Houston Fire Station 8 At 1919 Louisiana St.


ricco67

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I wasn't able to find it on a link anywhere...but here is the news...

The new fire station to replace firestation 1 is to be built under the pierce elevated between Louisianna and Milam!

Firefighter officials were concerned because of having a building located under a major freeway.

The Mayor argued the the location was the best and the land was the cheapest they could find.

I was unable to find when ground breaking would take place. But this would bring together fire firstations into a "super station".

Any thoughts on this?

Ricco

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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/2893363

Finally found the article. Can someone change the title in the first post? It was SUPPOSED to read, "...'fire station'" thanks. now back to my annoyingly flurry of posts. :)

Nov. 10, 2004, 1:06AM

City to buy land for planned fire 'super station'

By RON NISSIMOV

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The city took a major step Tuesday toward constructing a downtown "super fire station" to replace two stations that were closed in 2001 to make room for the Downtown Aquarium and the Toyota Center.

New station

The Houston City Council unanimously agreed to pay $4.77 million to buy a one-block area under the Pierce Elevated section of Interstate 45 where the super station will be built.

Mayor Bill White's spokesman, Frank Michel, said it would take at least one year to bid the project and begin construction. He said the station likely would be opened one year after construction starts.

The station will contain eight firetruck bays to serve the downtown and Midtown areas. The space is a 62,500-square-foot vacant lot bounded by Milam, St. Joseph Parkway, Louisiana and Pierce. The property is adjacent to a temporary fire station the city has been leasing for $20,000 a month to serve downtown and Midtown after the other two stations closed.

The property will require an estimated $400,000 in environmental clean up because it appears that debris from the old Borden building has fallen into its 8-foot basement, and there is some hydrogen contamination that is common in the downtown area, a city document says.

Former Mayor Lee P. Brown closed Fire Station 1 so the city could lease the land to the Downtown Aquarium, and closed Fire Station 8 for the Toyota Center. Brown originally proposed a fire station and Houston Fire Department administrative building at an estimated cost of $30 million to $40 million. Some council members criticized the administration for allegedly circumventing open bidding procedures. Brown scrapped the idea in March 2002.

Michel said the city no longer plans to house HFD's administration in the new fire station. He said the site that was chosen was one of 13 locations that was given serious consideration. He said this year's capital improvement plan calls for spending as much as $13 million on the project, including lease costs for the temporary station.

ron.nissimov@chron.com

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I have to agree, it seems like an odd location. It's not a big deal to me but I think Otis is right in that there seems to be better looking (at least) locations inside the Pierce Elevated.

Oh well... like Subdude said. At least some of the blank dreariness underneath the Pierce would be filled in. The Homeless were using many of those empty parcells as congregation areas and the trash was/is getting out of control.

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"...space is a 62,500-square-foot vacant lot bounded by Milam, St. Joseph Parkway, Louisiana and Pierce..."

Wait a minute. The streets that bound this place are not under the elevated...its between Pierce and St. Josephs Pkwy. Did I read this thing wrong?

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My gut feeling is they wouldnt do something crazy like build a permanent structure underneath an elevated that might have to be fixed or expanded, or, that might leak toxic chemicals in the event a rig exploded up above on the freeway.

I think the article reads correctly, except for the part where the author made and assumption that it was "underneath" the elevated.

Too bad. It would have been kinda cool to see something underneath it though.

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I don't think it's directly under the Pierce. That would be quite difficult to build, especially considering the high roof that's necessary to accomodate fire trucks. I saw a ladder truck pass under the Pierce on Louisiana a few weeks ago and there was not much clearance between the top of the truck and the bottom of the bridge. To build under the Pierce would require the freeway to be high enough that the fire station's roof structure would be able to fit between the top of the trucks and the bottom of the freeway, and still allow enough clearance for access to the top of the trucks while they're parked inside. I just don't see how that's possible.

I think the reporter is wrong in saying it's "under the Pierce Elevated."

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  • 1 year later...

To bad the city of houston page has no renderings. I dont know why, but I would love to see brick arches around the engine bay entrances, rather than simple rectangular openings. They have that old feel, I guess.

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Yes, the city needs to fill in those large parking lot spaces. They need large parking garages and mixed-use complexes.

Also, if there are some empty lots in eastern Downtown, they would be prime space for a new community center, a new K-8 magnet/neighborhood school, and perhaps even a magnet high school.

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I'm sure its your average fire station.

This is what the newest fire station on Briar Forest near SH6 looks like: station86.jpg

To bad the city of houston page has no renderings. I dont know why, but I would love to see brick arches around the engine bay entrances, rather than simple rectangular openings. They have that old feel, I guess.

Here's what most Chicago fire houses look like:qn5r12.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
Architects looked at pictures of an old downtown fire station and designed the new fire station with old-fashioned features like a watch tower.

"If a fire station looks like a fire station and not a school, then people should be able to easily recognize that in an emergency situation, which I think is something we should do," said HFD Project Manager Barry Whitehead.

rest of the article: http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/kho...n.590d1b7d.html

is it just me that doesn't look like fire station?

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Yea! If I'm not mistaken, that KHOU article shows a rendering...that looks "old", with dark red brick, and has those killer old-fasion arches I was talking about earlier in this thread. Me Happy!

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Across from the black Federal building on the south side of DT next to I45 their was a surface lot with a passport picture place in the corner. I drove by to today and the whole lot is torn up and dug, maybe 4 or 5' deep. Does any one know what is going?

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Across from the black Federal building on the south side of DT next to I45 their was a surface lot with a passport picture place in the corner. I drove by to today and the whole lot is torn up and dug, maybe 4 or 5' deep. Does any one know what is going?

The new Fire Department's headquarters and central station is to be built there. We've got another thread going on about how ugly and typical the design is somewhere else in this forum.

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Yea! If I'm not mistaken, that KHOU article shows a rendering...that looks "old", with dark red brick, and has those killer old-fasion arches I was talking about earlier in this thread. Me Happy!

I don't see anything wrong with the design aside from the fact it seems to me they should have made it a multi-story building to allow for more trucks and eqiupment if the need arisis.

Maybe they didn't want any poles to slide down while they were sleepy. :unsure:

Unlike the other design posted by nmainguy, I WANT a firehouse to look like a firehouse. It's easier for someone that is not from the area to recognize it in an emergency.

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