Commission approves Fire Station No. 8 addition with modified window condition after debate

The Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for an approximately 18,000-square-foot addition to historic Fire Station No. 8 with conditions intended to protect the building's historic character while allowing adaptive reuse for community programming.

Preservation staff recommended approval with conditions including removal of a proposed second-floor storefront system and retention or in-kind repair of historic windows. The project architect, Jim Tharp of William Starpe Architects, explained that to achieve a taller, more usable lobby ceiling the design team proposed to reduce the size of a set of second-floor windows: "We're gonna take out the old windows, reduce them to about half so we can get a taller structure and a taller ceiling in that lobby," he said. Several commissioners worried that preserving the full historic window openings would prevent the project from delivering the desired public-space volume.

After discussion, the commission approved an alternate motion to adopt staff recommendations except for condition 1 (the requirement to maintain the second-floor window/stores as originally sized). The alternate motion passed with a recorded vote that commissioners reported as roughly 7 yays and 2 nays. Staff will require revised drawings reflecting the approved conditions before issuing the COA.