We're in The Argonaut!

Today's Argonaut has a top-story article about the newly formed Friends of Historic Fire Station 62, the non-profit that is assuming the lead in converting our fire station to a community center. The report encapsulates the history of the effort thus far and our expectations for the future.

Mar Vista: Historic fire station continues evolution into multipurpose center

By Gary Walker

The News We've All Been Waiting For

First, the birth announcement. Due to the efforts of the Fire Station Ad Hoc Committee of the Mar Vista Community Council, official non-profit status in the state of California has been granted to the Friends of Historic Fire Station 62. Although everyone who has attended meetings has made some contribution to make this happen, the committee's Co-Chair, Rachel Swanger, deserves special recognition for spending countless hours in pulling together the by-laws and seeing us through the 501(c)3 process. Swanger sent out this message:

The Friends of Historic Fire Station 62 is now officially registered as a non-profit, public benefit corporation in the State of California. Moreover, we are in the process of applying for federal non-profit status [so-called 501(c)3]. This status allows us to begin to raise funds for the refurbishment of the station and to begin to plan programming for use of Historic Fire Station 62 as a Community Center.

The Friends of Historic Fire Station 62 may now fundraise. No sooner has the organization been hatched, than the first fundraising event is being launched! Please, come out Wednesday, April 25, to Whole Foods at National Blvd. and Barrington in West LA (upper Mar Vista, really) to shop because 5 CENTS ON EVERY DOLLAR spent that day is going to go toward bringing the fire station back to life!

This is a win-win-WIN situation any way you slice it. You win because you can fund us on Wednesday without having to donate a dime out of pocket. Whole Foods wins because, if you're not familiar with the store, the company can introduce you to their fantastic, healthful alternative to what the supers offer. And we all win because, with the proceeds, we'll be able to take the first step toward having a wonderful community center in our midst!

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase — We're on the Route!

Please stop by Historic Fire Station 62 on Saturday, April 21, to pick up your map to the 4th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase. We'll be on hand from 10 am to 4 pm, ready to direct you on the tour, but ALSO to give you the latest news on FS62! If you come by, you'll receive a preview of some very special news I'll be posting on this blog in the next few days.

Through the magic of Photoshop, Agnes Anderson has created a vision of what our front patch of lawn can look like with just the right love and attention. Go here to see her stunning image of our fire station and to learn more about the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase.

The Next Phase: $$$,$$$

The Fire Station 62 Ad Hoc Committee has been busily working to complete its bylaws and 501(c)3 status, and hoping to kick off the next phase of realizing the neighborhood's dream of converting the ol' fire station into a community center. A certain amount of work will need to be done to bring the building up to modern standards - upgrade the electrical, modernize the restrooms, do a little bit of roof work in one spot, tear out some glued-on carpet, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. She ain't young. 62 is turning 62 next year, and she'll have to come up with a pretty nickel (ah, inflation) for an Oprah-fitting makeover.

We have both an architect and a contractor on our committee who've been tasked with pinning down the amount we'll need to raise. We might be looking at half a mil here, chump change if you're Brad Pitt renovating a work-out gym. But in our neighborhood, we might be looking at selling 200,000 cupcakes and 300,000 glasses of horchata to raise that kind of cash.

We're a marvelously diverse neighborhood, the mirror of Los Angeles in many respects. Our households encompass a spectrum of income, from the low to the high. If you've been blessed in this economy or have helping hands and wish to assist in some way, please, join us in a meeting. We meet quarterly on third Wednesdays in the months of January, April, July and October at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 11555 National Blvd. in Mar Vista, in the library, 7 to 9 pm. And if we come knocking at your door, soliciting funds, please give what you can. Also, be watching this blog for notice of any fund-raising events.

Fire Station With a Pedigree

Mark Crawford (pictured) of the Mar Vista Historical Society has submitted another fascinating reflection on the history of the area surrounding Historic Fire Station 62. It comes from his forthcoming book, Distant Vistas: Exploring the Historic Neighborhoods of Mar Vista. You may recall that last spring Mark had given us a preview of some of his research. Crawford writes:

When the ad hoc committee to preserve the Mar Vista Fire Station 62 and convert it into a community center began referring to it as historic, not a few people scoffed at the notion that this seemingly unexceptional, unkempt edifice had a right to such a lofty designation. But an impartial assessment of the facts should convince anyone of the validity of that term.

The land on which the fire station sits was part of a 335-acre parcel owned by Samuel Cripe, an Indiana farmer who settled in the Ballona Valley in the late 1870s. Besides cultivating such crops as alfalfa, lima beans, peas, blackberries, string beans, Irish potatoes, and corn (100 bushels to the acre), Cripe operated a kiln in Santa Monica manufacturing bricks in what was one of that city’s first industries. His pressed bricks were regarded by experts as among the best made in the country and were used in the 1888 Soldiers Home in Sawtelle, today the site of the Veterans Administration. Cripe also helped raise the $300 that was used to finance the first school ever built in Mar Vista territory, the Machado Public School, erected in 1895 at the present-day corner of Walgrove Avenue and Zanja Street.

In the late 1880s Cripe’s son Jim began farming a 40-acre spread that included the fire station site. In 1905 Jim Cripe subdivided some 20 acres of his farm to create the sixth-oldest residential neighborhood in Mar Vista, Venice View Heights. Lots 1 and 2 were prime real estate, situated as they were at the southwest corner of the tract, at the junction of Ballona Road No. 2 (Centinela Avenue) and Windward Avenue. Ballona Road No. 2 was one of the few north/south throughways in early Mar Vista, and as it intersected the Pacific Electric rail line at Venice Boulevard, one of the most important in the development of the community.

On December 12, 1947, the City of Los Angeles purchased lots 1 and 2 for $6,110 to build a fire station to replace the outdated Venice Firehouse on the corner of Main Street and Rose Avenue. Construction on the 50 by 110 foot building didn’t begin until the last week of November, 1949; the $77,500 “bungalow-style” station was completed in July of 1950. Fire Station 62 was formally dedicated on August 25, 1950.

The eight-man crew that moved into the Mar Vista station – Engine Co. No. 62 – formerly worked at the old Venice Firehouse. Built in 1906 by the city of Ocean Park, the Venice firehouse was a two-story wooden structure with a bell tower and a stable for the horses that pulled its first fire wagons. The horses were originally pressed into service from the teams used by the City of Venice for street cleaning and garbage collection, the stables of which were on Rose Avenue. The original fire fighters were all volunteers; city employees cared for the horses and rang the bell when a fire broke out, which called the volunteers to the station house. Their first motorized engine, a two-cylinder Buick, was acquired in 1911. When Venice merged with Los Angeles in 1925 the station became Engine House 62. The city of L. A. replaced the old fire engines with three “modern” ones: a 1918 hose-wagon, a 1923 1000-gallon capacity American-La France engine, and a 1920 Seagreave relief pump and hose carrier. Incredibly, those three machines were used by Engine Co. No. 62 until 1949, when they were furnished with a new Triple Action Seagreave engine. Today the old Venice Fire Station is the remodeled Firehouse Restaurant.

Prior to the Windward station Mar Vista didn’t have a firehouse of its own. When a blaze broke out in the area, the community had to rely on fire crews from either Culver City or Venice. But this could be tricky, for each crew had clearly defined, inviolable boundaries, and if, say, a Culver City fire engine showed up to put out a fire that was across the street from its authorized territory, it would simply turn around and go back to the station. Fire Station 62 served the community until 2007 when it was replaced by a new station at the southeast corner of Venice and Inglewood boulevards.

Simply turn around and go back to the station.... Ah, the good old days.

Mar Vista Community Council Comes Through

Much gratitude is to be shown to the four Mar Vista Community Council members who have participated in the annual Day of Community Service by lending a hand at Historic Fire Station 62 two years in a row! From left to right above:

• Marilyn Marble, Zone 6 Director;
• Christopher McKinnon, Zone 5 Director;
• Sharon Commins, Director At-large and Co-Chair of the Historic Fire Station 62 Ad Hoc Committee;
• and Rob Kadota, Community Director.

To learn more about the Mar Vista Community Council and to get involved in its many activities, visit the Council's website. Sign up to have the Historic Fire Station 62 Ad Hoc Committee e-newsletter sent to you automatically.

One Moment in Today's Day of Community Service

Listen to the grand acoustics of the truck bay inside Historic Fire Station 62. Receive a delightful surprise in watching one of the younger helping hands spiff up the place. (Be patient. It'll take a moment.)