Fire hall receives $2M facelift
[attach]1659[/attach]The Beach’s historical fire hall is undergoing a huge $2 million restoration and no one could be happier than Gene Domagala.
The Beach historian says Station 227 on Queen Street East was long overdue for a fix.
“It’s been falling apart, the bricks are going, every part of it was terrible,” Domagala said. “Now thank God, they’re re-doing it and making it good for another 50 years.”
Years ago, while serving on the Toronto’s heritage preservation board, Domagala said he put in a request to the city to fix it up. After 20 years of persistence, the city approved the project and restoration began in September 2009.
Restoration and repairs are being done to the clock, wooden windows, exterior brick and mortar, electrical system and basement foundation.
Only architects and contractors specializing in old buildings were considered for the work. The work is expected to be complete by year’s end.
Domagala said the station is an important part of the Beach, both for the service it provides today, and its history.
“It’s like a sentinel,” he said. “When you’re coming to the Beach from anywhere … the thing that sticks in your mind is the old brick building.”
Then listed as Station 17, the building opened in August 1906. It was designed by then-City Architect Robert McCallum.
The station started with a single horse drawn cart and the same year, purchased a steam-pumping engine pulled by two horses.
Originally, it did not have a clock.
“For the first 10 years it just had a cupola, it looked like a minaret,” Domagala said.
It purchased a motorized hose and chemical fire engine in 1914.
During WWI and WWII, the station had gardens to grow vegetables.
Major fires it has responded to included the Balmy Beach Canoe Club in February 1936 and the stable fire at Woodbine Racetrack in June 1959.
When Toronto amalgamated in 1998, the station was renamed Station 227.
Currently, the fire station houses one truck. A total of 20 firefighters are assigned to the station with rotating shifts of five at a time. And its clock tower still can be clearly seen.
“It wakes us up and puts us to sleep,” Domagala said.