Structure Type: built works - public buildings - fire stations

Designers: Bassetti Architects (firm); Turner Construction Company (firm); Louis Alstrom (building contractor); John Henrik Henrikson (building contractor); Lorne L. McConachie (architect); Ronald Murphy (architect); Jerry Stickney (architect)

Dates: constructed 1926-1927

2 stories, total floor area: 16,831 sq. ft.

3224 4th Avenue South
SODO, Seattle, WA 98134-1917

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Set on a 35,100-square-foot lot, the fireproof, reinforced concrete Fire Station #14 appears to have been built in 1926-1927, although King County Assessor's records indicated the date to have been 1922. The draftsman for this fire station was named "Baker," according to original bid documents. It is unknown who the draftsman and/or the architect was. (See BOLA Architects, "Seattle Fire Stations No. 14 Landmark Nomination Report, December 2004," Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board,Accessed 08/26/2012.) At this time, however, Frank Lidstone Baker (born 1873) did work in the city, in the firm of Baker, Vogel and Roush. The Henrikson Alstrom Construction Company was the original General Contractor for the fire house.

This distinctive station stood on the northeast corner of 4th Avenue South and South Horton Street, and was notable for its Mission Revival-like triangular, front and side, parapeted gables and other Mediterranean Revival features, including its red-tiled roof, stucco exterior, and arched window and door openings. The building had a tripartite front elevation, with paired garage doors on both wings and central bay. At the beginning, the doors were painted a lively composition of vertical and horizontal red lines, but later repainted all red, reducing the ornamental effect. A bit of ornamental brickwork, forming window sills and rudimentary pilasters, graced the front facade. Brickwork continued in various places on all other sides. Industrial, steel-sash windows, like surrounding factories and warehouses, illuminated the non-public, east facade. Two notable towers rose behind the main engine house on the east, one a training tower, seven stories high, and, the other, a hose tower with fewer stories but the same approximate height. Each was topped by triangular pediments echoing the main building. The training tower had metal fire escapes lining its east face. Originally, the towers had open stairways, but were bricked in later to reduce winds on the structure. In 2012, according to the City of Seattle Fire Department's web site: "Station 14 houses one ladder unit and an aid unit. The station is also home to the department's Technical Rescue Team which helps mitigate dive/confined space/rope/trench/tunnel/heavy rescue incidents." (See "SoDo District - Station 14-Historic,"Accessed 08/27/2012.) The facility contained its original fire pole, offices, workshops, apparatus rooms, a training-center classroom, medic room, lounge ("bullpen"), kitchen, locker room and weight room.

A training classroom was added onto the station by the Seattle Department of Buildings in 1965, and a metal rear canopy appended to the north side in 1966. Stickney and Murphy, Architects, undertook a general building renovation in 1986. Architect Calvin Johnson produced designs for a laundry/decontamination room in 1999. Bassetti Architects worked with Turner Construction on several changes to Fire Station #14 in 2012. According to the City of Seattle's web site, these included: "1.) Structural upgrades to bring the station up to current seismic safety standards; 2.) An addition to the north side of the existing station that will provide one additional apparatus bay; 3.) Improved decontamination, dive gear and bunker gear storage facilities; 4.) Renovated administration and living areas; 5.) Improved mechanical and electrical systems." (See City of Seattle, Fire Department, "Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy Program: SoDo District - Station 14 - Historic,"Accessed 08/30/2012.)

Seattle Historic Landmark (2005): ID n/a

King County Assessor Number: 7674800085 Department of Assessments eReal Property GIS Center parcel report GIS Center parcel viewer GIS Center iMap viewer

PCAD id: 18042