New building honors fire department's history

The Richmond Fire Department will cut the ribbon Wednesday morning on a snazzy new building that replaces what had been the city’s oldest fire station, one that dated to an era when fire wagons were drawn by horses. 

Those who gather at the corner of Cary and Addison at 11 a.m. will celebrate a new three-story Station 12 that announces itself with a clever piece of public art and includes features designed for the well-being of modern firefighters.

They also will see that one piece of history has come at Station 12. The shabby old building, which had been in service since 1908, was the city’s last station with a fire pole. The new building has two of them, which means newer firefighters will need to be trained on how to slide down them.

“I’ve been waiting 14 years to go down a pole,” Steven Young, a firefighter who started his career in Hampton.

On Tuesday afternoon, crews from other fire companies dropped by Station 12 to see the transformation for themselves. There were some oohs and aahs as one group stepped onto the second-floor patio with a Weber gas grill and a table situated below a giant red sculpture made up of ladders.

Inside, Captain Hallie Neville showed off the expansive stainless-steel kitchen that would make any Top Chef contestant feel right at home. Neville walked off the footprint of the old kitchen, which would have fit in one corner of the new one.

“You have no idea,” Neville said when asked to describe the upgrade.

Opening welcomed by neighbors after extended wait

The whole project cost $13.3 million ($4 million more than the original estimate) and took 27 months to complete (compared to the estimate of 14-18 months). 

When the city started the project in early 2022, the initial bids came in higher than the $9.3 million estimate that had been approved a year earlier. A staff report blamed cost increases on market and supply chain issues related to COVID. In Sept. 2022, City Council added $4 million in bond money, a 43% increase over the original cost estimate.

Michael Hinkle, a city spokesman, said the expectation is that the project will come in under the revised $13.3 million budget. 

Last September, city officials said Station 12 would be operational by November. Hinkle was unable to explain exactly what delayed the timeline by seven months. City records show there were problems with an electrical switching system and that the Department of Public Utilities asked for other last-minute changes.

The Station 12 opening will be greeted by relief from the owners of four independent businesses – Lamplighter Coffee and three small boutiques – in the 100 block of S Addison Street. 

“I was really excited for the firefighters,” said Kate Jennings, owner of Na Nin, a clothing and fragrance shop, “but of course I wasn’t expecting it to take so long and with the road closure.”

Business owners said they were not given any advance knowledge that the road would be closed as part of the construction.

Lauren McCrocklin, owner of The Wild Heart, a clothing store, said she was disheartened when she spoke to the zoning employee who signed off on the road closure permit.

“The zoning official commented that he didn’t realize there were businesses on this block,” McCrocklin said. “These four small businesses have been here for over a decade.”

A city spokesperson said road closure decisions are not made lightly, and consideration was made to nearby businesses.

Matt Lusk, a homeowner in the 2200 block of Parkwood Avenue, said he felt uninformed during the process.

“All we knew was they were building a fire station, but that was the extent of it,” Lusk said.

Asked about how much he depends on Addison Street now that it had reopened, Lusk laughed. “I forgot about that road; it’s been closed so long.”

Business owners said the demolition of Station 12 began just as foot traffic had begun to recover from COVID. In separate interviews with The Richmonder, all said they put their disappointment with the city aside and set about to sharpen their marketing and pull together as a community.

Noelle Forest, co-owner of Lamplighter, said she feared the road closure would be a “death sentence” for her business. But sales at the coffee shop, known for its hipster-heavy clientele, did not fall off as steeply as expected. Loyal customers stayed with them.

“One of our regulars said she would come by dogsled if that is what it took,” Forest said.

In a statement, Fire Chief Jeffrey Segal recognized that construction took longer than planned.

“We…appreciate the patience and understanding of our neighbors in the Fan,” he said. “Fire Station 12 has always been, and will continue to be, an extension of the community that surrounds it.”

Firefighters are part of the neighborhood's fabric

Neighbors said they look forward to the return of the firefighters, who left nearly a year before demolition began in March 2023.

“We look at them as neighbors,” Forest said.

Back in the day, firefighters would escape from the dilapidated confines of the old building to sit out front, where they would shoot the breeze with passing neighbors.

“We’d sit on that bench every night,” recalled firefighter Joe Signorelli.

The crews also would do small chores, like changing lightbulbs, for some elderly people who lived nearby. Lt. Robbie Hagaman remembers the day when a young woman dropped by the station to ask if she could borrow a ladder.

“No,” Hagaman told her, “We’ll bring a ladder to you.”

A rookie in the station was smitten. The pair dated and married.

“The other fire houses are fire houses,” Hagaman said. “This was home.”

With funding from the City’s Public Art Commission, Station 12 includes art installations that preserve and honor the history of the Richmond Fire Department. The large windows on the second floor that face Cary Street have been etched with photographs of apparatus old and new and images of pioneers such as Barbara Jean “B.J.” Hicks, the city’s first female firefighter.

From the sidewalk, the art installation can be hard to see during the day, but the images stand out at night.

The art is also a homage to the original Station 12, which after a century had become a kind of living museum. In a stairwell, there were framed photographs of every company who served at the station going back decades. In the bay, there was a 20-foot wall plastered with newspaper clippings from days of old.

“The history was captured on the walls,” Captain Neville said.

Time will tell if the new Station 12 — with its modern weight room and spacious TV room with oversized lounge chairs — proves so welcoming that firefighters will be less drawn outside to the bustle and clatter of Cary Street.

Neville is optimistic that the station will retain its special connection to the neighborhood. She scrolled through her phone for a photo she had taken the night before of two women who had strolled down Addison Street and continued their conversation on a short wall in front of the station.

“This,” Neville said, expanding the photo on her phone, “is what we’ve been waiting for – to be back as part of the community.”

Note: Neville is the sister-in-law of the author. The author had not planned to talk with Neville about this story, but she happened to be the officer in charge when The Richmonder toured Station 12 on Tuesday. The author's relationship did not affect the framing and outline of the story, which had been submitted as a draft before the Tuesday interview took place.