The Fire House has been selected as a 2011 Florida Preservation Trust Award recipient in the Adaptive Use category. These prestigious awards have been given since 2002 in recognition of significant contributions to outstanding achievement in historic preservation. The Award was presented at the 33rd Annual Statewide Preservation Conference on May 20.
Invariably the Award winners are of an outstanding caliber and it is quite a tribute to the restoration project on the Fire House to receive such an Award. Never before has a fire house, particularly one which was also a police station and jail, received an Award. The Fire House won in the category of Adaptive Use because of its conversion to law offices for Snell Legal.
There was a somewhat involved application process required to seek the Award which included letters of recommendation. The Fire House received, and is quite grateful for, letters of recommendation from Mayor Ed Kelley, State Representative and former Mayor Fred Costello, State Senator Evelyn Lynn, the Ormond Beach Historical Society, The Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail, the Ormond Yacht Club (cir. 1910, currently under restoration), Ormond Main Street and the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce.
The Fire House was built by the WPA in 1937 for the Town of Ormond as a fire station, police station and jail. It was public safety headquarters for Ormond, renamed Ormond Beach in 1950, until 1975 and continued in service as a public safety substation until November 2006 when the renovation process began. The renovation was completed in January of 2008 when Snell Legal took occupancy.
The Fire House was designed by noted architect Alan J. MacDonough, who also was the architect for the Streamline Hotel where NASCAR was founded, the Bandshell and Clock Tower, Holly Hill City Hall and the Jackie Robinson Ballpark grandstand renovation project. It is made of native coquina rock, as are the Bandshell and Clock Tower and the Holly Hill City Hall, which were also WPA projects. Mr. MacDonough is the architect for 7 structures on the National Register of Historic Places, one of which is the Fire House.
For additional information on the Preservation Trust and the Trust Awards see http://www.floridatrust.org/.