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Overview

San Jose's Central Fire Station functioned as the city's primary fire-fighting equipment and personnel center from 1951 until 2000. A distinctly Modern building, the station also housed the City of San Jose's emergency communications/command center until the late 1950s. It was superceded with the construction of a new facility constructed to the north on the same block. The two buildings were not merged, but remained separate to allow the city either to reuse the 1951 fire house as a civic fire fighting museum or to tear it down for other uses.

Building History

The State of CA and the City of San Jose experienced remarkable growth during the decade between 1940 and 1950, necessitating that new fire stations be built to protect the increased population. In general in the US, American cities after World War II rebuilt their fire stations utilizing new technologies pioneered during World War II. The citizens of San Jose passed a $350,000 bond issue in 1946 that paid for five new branch stations and central communication command center. The Central Fire Station was erected last and the $350,000 had been expended by 1950, so additional funds had to be raised for it. The city commissioned the venerable architectural firm of Binder and Curtis, headquartered in San Jose since the 1890s, to design the new Central Fire Stations, and it collaborated with the Bridge Construction Company that won the building contract through competitive bidding. Bridges obtained its building permit on 04/12/1950, and completed construction on 03/15/1950. The fire station was designed to be technologically state-of-the-art, not only to protect the citizenry, but, by upgrading its fire facilities and eequipment, the City of San Jose could received cheaper fire insurance coverage, saving about $225,000 per year.

Binder and Curtis designed a very Modern building in appearance, emphasizing its geometric components and lacking any historicing ornamentation. (One might argue that the short, central "mast" on the front facade had an ornamental effect, but it did not refer to clear historical precedents.) Constructed of reinforced concrete, the building did not have a light, volumetric appearance common to International Style buildings of the 1930s. The building's weight and solidity was emphasized by the deeply inset openings of the three engine bays and the bays on either corner lit by windows and accesible through glazed doors. Other details differed from International Style buildings designed by Le Corbusier and others. Incontrast to Le Corbusier's work, the building was not elevated on columns. The front fenestration was completely symmetrical, something High Modern architects avoided, and the windows of the second story did not form a continuous ribbon like those of an International Style building.

The rectangular building had three engine bays with doors on the front and back facades to enable trucks to enter from two directions. Two trucks occupied each bay, and the doors made it possible for any truck to leave at any time quickly. Above the first-floor engine/equipment room, the second floor contained sleeping and dining spaces for fire fighters. Brass fire poles linking the upstairs sleeping rooms with the downstairs engine/equipment rooms were removed from the previous central station at 35 North Market Street and installed in this new facility in 1951

Building Notes

The National Register of Historic Places Nomination form summariezed the significance of this fire station: "The building is a significant modern architectural work that is representative of a period of rapid urban expansion in San Jose following World War II. Locally, the business community launched a campaign to attract new non-agricultural industries to Santa Clara Valley, resulting is the creation of a new economic base in the region focused on the electronic and defense industries. This growth resulted in a population increase between 1950 and 1975 from 95,000 to 500,000 residents. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, city leaders, anticipating this new growth, presented two bond measures to the public for fire safety improvements. Former San Jose Fire Station One was one of five fire stations constructed in the downtown area with proceeds from the first bond measure in 1946, and is the most historically significant due to its design and its function as an innovative new emergency communications center, a role it played until 1958. The new stations reflected the new regional vitality, were built to expand safety services in an era of rapid growth. Central Fire Station was intended to serve as a communication and command center, and was designed in a modern and monumental way to reflect its pivotal role in the larger emergency services system." (See State of California Office of Historic Preservation, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form San Jose Central Fire Station, accessed 11/02/2015.)

PCAD id: 19841