Fire Sale: One Old Station on the Block

Always dream of owning a fire station? This is your chance.

The city of Los Angeles has one that it doesn’t use any more and is putting it on the auction block Friday.

Old Fire Station 56 in Silver Lake hasn’t housed a firetruck since the new station opened just down the street in February, 1989.

The 1924 building is cute as can be in an eclectic sort of way. It has a neoclassical entry, a Spanish tile roof and a flagpole out front. It’s loaded with features: a detached kitchen, a communications room, a handball court, a two-fire-engine garage with a skylight and sleeping quarters for four.

Be warned, however: An investigation of the building and grounds revealed asbestos inside and a 1,000-gallon gas tank that may have contaminated the earth around it.

Also, a notice of violation has been filed against the unreinforced masonry building under the Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Buildings ordinance. Corrective work must be done before anyone can move in.

One more thing: On Jan. 12, 1988, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission declared the fire station a historic monument. Whoever buys the building will have to apply to the Cultural Heritage Commission before making any changes.

In part discouraged by those catches, two city departments that had ideas for using the old fire station decided not to pursue them.

One idea, briefly considered by the Cultural Affairs Department, would have converted the station into a theater to replace the Los Feliz Performing Arts Center, which burned several years ago.

However, the fire engine bay turned out to be too narrow for a stage and the cost of repairing the building too great, said Tom LaBonge, deputy for Councilman John Ferraro, whose district formerly included the station.

The Recreation and Parks Department also examined the building as a potential substation for park rangers, but dropped the idea because priorities were in other parts of the city, Chief Ranger Lucia Ruta said.

In January, the Department of Public Works declared that the city no longer needed the property and recommended that the council put it up for auction with a minimum bid of $274,500. The auction will be held at 1 p.m. in Room 250A of City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.

Anyone who wishes to bid must bring $10,000 in cash, certified check or cashier’s check.

One person who plans to be there is Forest Riek of Los Feliz. Since the day the station closed, Riek has kept his eye on it, thinking that he would buy it as a home for the vintage fire engine he and his two sons bought and restored.

It has turned out a little pricier than he hoped, however, Riek’s wife, Betty, said Tuesday. Consequently, he will merely be a spectator.