Firehouse Sold for $502,000
A Corona del Mar man bid $502,000 last week to buy the 66-year-old Fire Station 56 in Silver Lake from the city of Los Angeles.
Buddy King, who owns a recording studio near the vacated station at 2838 Rowena Ave., said he plans to add to the building and use it for office space.
In an auction last Friday at City Hall, King outlasted two other bidders who pushed the price well above the required minimum of $274,500.
Before he can move in, King will be required to make the 1924 structure satisfy earthquake safety standards, and may have to remove asbestos and a 1,000-gallon underground gas tank.
Any substantial changes in the appearance of the bungalow-style fire station would have to be approved by the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission, which declared it a historic landmark in 1988.
The station was abandoned in February, 1989, when the Fire Department opened its new Station 56 a few blocks away--at Rowena Avenue and Glendale Boulevard.
The real estate division of the city’s Bureau of Engineering put the station up for sale after determining that no other city department wanted the property.
Proceeds from the sale will be added to a fund that is to pay for the replacement of 16 fire stations deemed to be seismically unsafe.
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