Boulder Landmarks Board approves demolition of former Fire Station No. 2 at 2225 Baseline Road, 3-2

The Boulder Landmarks Board on July 2 voted 3-2 to approve the city’s application to demolish the former Fire Station No. 2 at 2225 Baseline Road, a one-story masonry building designed by Hobart Wagner and constructed in 1958.

City staff presented the demolition request as a non-designated demolition review under section 9-11-23 of the Boulder Revised Code (1981). Marcy Gerwing, principal historic preservation planner, told the board the building was surveyed in 2000 as part of Boulder’s modern architecture inventory but that subsequent alterations — including infill of the apparatus bays, replacement of original clearstory glazing, and changes to the roofline and eaves — had “diminished the architectural integrity of the building.” Gerwing said staff’s recommendation was to approve the demolition because the property is not eligible for landmark designation and because adaptive reuse was not feasible given programmatic and space needs.

The staff presentation characterized the building’s key constraints as functional: the apparatus bay openings are too narrow to house a modern fire engine and a wildland response…