Ten Reasons to Save Fire Station Five

[mtraininjax]

The fire station is not destined to live in Brooklyn, all its fire fighters deserted it for new diggs down the road, and the landlord wants it gone, why leave it in Brooklyn where no one wants it? Does Brooklyn really need another boarded up building? Did we learn nothing from the Brewster Hospital?

Barge it down under Acosta and Main and give it a good home next to the old Fire Museum. Soon we will have a graveyard of old buildings no one wanted.

[vicupstate]

mtrain,

NO ONE wants to see it boarded up.  Brooklyn would be the logistically easiest and thus cheapest location, so it is a 1st or 2nd choice.   Or do you prefer to see vacent weed fields in Brooklyn instead?

Metro Park is a good option too, though.

[mtraininjax]

NO ONE wants to see it boarded up.  Brooklyn would be the logistically easiest and thus cheapest location, so it is a 1st or 2nd choice.   Or do you prefer to see vacent weed fields in Brooklyn instead?

Great, what does Brooklyn have to offer right now? Weeds, retention ponds? Move it and let it sit and deteriorate? All City Leaders should be removed from office if that happens.

Move it where it can be a part of Kids Campus or tied into another EXISTING fire station. How hard is this? Use the building or tear it down. It makes no sense to move it and let it sit. Move it over to Brewster if possible, but use it somewhere. Don't let it sit in the deplorable condition its in right now, and only getting worse.

[Springfielder]

I would support the idea of either moving it via the river or to that lot, but of course, that would make sense and we're talking about a city that continues to destroy it's historical buildings...let's hope that somehow, someway, there could suddenly be a light go on with those who are making this decision.

[thelakelander]

NO ONE wants to see it boarded up.  Brooklyn would be the logistically easiest and thus cheapest location, so it is a 1st or 2nd choice.   Or do you prefer to see vacent weed fields in Brooklyn instead?

Great, what does Brooklyn have to offer right now? Weeds, retention ponds? Move it and let it sit and deteriorate? All City Leaders should be removed from office if that happens.

Brooklyn also is the home of BCBS, Fidelity, Everbank, St. Joe, Haskell and the TU.  Moving it directly across the street (cuts down on moving expenses) and issue an RFP (eliminates need for city to renovate it) for the thing.  It would be a pretty desirable location because its at the main entrance to DT from I-10/95 which is also the central point for several office buildings along Riverside Ave.  In addition, it would have direct frontage to the proposed streetcar line.

[vicupstate]

NO ONE wants to see it boarded up.  Brooklyn would be the logistically easiest and thus cheapest location, so it is a 1st or 2nd choice.   Or do you prefer to see vacent weed fields in Brooklyn instead?

Great, what does Brooklyn have to offer right now? Weeds, retention ponds? Move it and let it sit and deteriorate? All City Leaders should be removed from office if that happens.

Move it where it can be a part of Kids Campus or tied into another EXISTING fire station. How hard is this? Use the building or tear it down. It makes no sense to move it and let it sit. Move it over to Brewster if possible, but use it somewhere. Don't let it sit in the deplorable condition its in right now, and only getting worse.

AGAIN, no one wants to see it boarded up in ANY location, but it could be moved for probably less than 75-100K within Brooklyn.  Move it and sell it to the highest bidder that will occupy it with two years.   Hell, for that matter, put city offices in it.  The point is, do you SAVE your history or do you DESTROY it.  That is the question.  

[mtraininjax]

Lake - No one is even biting at using Brewster, why should the city count on a candidate for this? Move it where it gets used, Kids Campus. By the time you move it, MOST of your cost is spent anyway, so picking it up and moving it is a cost ANYONE will have to absorb, so move it where it will be used wisest and that is not across the street next to the retention ponds and wastelands.

It would be used immediately down at Kids Park, as the City could put overflow offices in there, immediately. Why would the city move offices out to Brooklyn? Special Events has offices at Kids Park. Problem solved.

[thelakelander]

Lake - No one is even biting at using Brewster, why should the city count on a candidate for this?

Location, location, location.  What is Brewster located around?  That abandoned section of LaVilla does not have the traffic count, visibility or dense daytime office population surrounding it that the intersection of Forest and Riverside does.

Move it where it gets used, Kids Campus. By the time you move it, MOST of your cost is spent anyway, so picking it up and moving it is a cost ANYONE will have to absorb, so move it where it will be used wisest and that is not across the street next to the retention ponds and wastelands.

You forgot about renovation costs.  Issuing an RFP for the private sector to take it eliminates renovation costs from the taxpayer's hands.  A move to Kids Kampus saves the building, but the taxpayer absorbs moving, renovation and long term annual maintenance expenses.  Also, the city has plans to convert the retention pond across the street into a public park. 

It would be used immediately down at Kids Park, as the City could put overflow offices in there, immediately. Why would the city move offices out to Brooklyn? Special Events has offices at Kids Park. Problem solved.

Kids Kampus is pretty isolated.  Other than saving the structure, you won't get much benefit out of if out there, like you would selling it.  Move, get rid of it and get it on the tax rolls.  No need for the city hanging on to it long term.

[Captain Zissou]

Mtrain? Why are you so obsessed with sticking this between a playground and an under utilized public space???

Have you ever been to Brooklyn??  It houses some of the city's largest companies.  I'd give a low ball wager of 2,000 employees within a half mile.  Yes, there are 3 empty lots on the north side of riverside ave..... Look SOUTH!

[xian1118]

There are probably dozens of other buildings in the urban core/Riverside area that are not only more historically significant but would also be economically feasible and appreciated. Adaptive reuse is more successful with higher density, and you can see the density created by BCBS's riverfront parking lot next door. The city should focus on getting the urban core renovation projects completed before trying to spend thousands to save a 30 year old building. The site is historic - there should be a memorial - but the building was completely renovated in the 70's without the original architectural elements.

[thelakelander]

Brooklyn is a part of the urban core.

[vicupstate]

It does not have to be an either or proposition. If the city expects the private sector to save history, and it should, then it must do it's part with it's own buildings.  The '70's renovation could be 'un-done' as part of the renovation if desired.

Does anyone have pictures of the original appearance?

There is an old Fire Station next to Burrito Gallery (I think there is one building in between) that has been converted into a residence.  I have been inside it, and it is Southern Living-worthy.  It was listed for $1.5 mm not that long ago. I don't know if it sold or if so for how much.

    

[mtraininjax]

Kids Kampus Isolated? Why, because you say it is? Ever seen the Special Events quarters there? Cramped and stepping all over each other. They could use the space of another building and could store their equipment in the caverns of the fire station.

In case no one here has realized, commerical spaces are not flying out the windows. Leave it in Brooklyn to turn to dust or move it where the City could immediately get good use from it. This is an easy solution. If Brooklyn had more going on in growth, it would be an easier sell, but the empty wasteland there right now continues to collect dust and weeds. There is no reason to leave it there.

[mtraininjax]

There is an old Fire Station next to Burrito Gallery (I think there is one building in between) that has been converted into a residence.  I have been inside it, and it is Southern Living-worthy.  It was listed for $1.5 mm not that long ago. I don't know if it sold or if so for how much.

It is still on the market. It was converted to a private residence. It along with everything in real estate is considered negotiable. List price is 1.295 right now.

Wanna buy it?

[mtraininjax]

Location, location, location.  What is Brewster located around?  That abandoned section of LaVilla does not have the traffic count, visibility or dense daytime office population surrounding it that the intersection of Forest and Riverside does.

Lake - Have you driven down Monroe? Uh, Brewster is down the street from the new Medical complex, a number of law offices and mixed use commercial space. Is it St. Johns Town Center? No, but its a far cry from the desolate picture you paint of Lavilla. Monroe turns off of 95 as well, so its not like Brewster is in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, and by the way, Brewster is ready for occupancy, FS 5 is still boarded up. Big difference.