They couldn’t help but notice the statuesque old building when they’d roll by it on their Saturday morning bike rides.
There it sat on the corner, forlorn and forgotten, a for-sale sign beckoning. It was the Charlie Brown Christmas tree of old buildings in the area.
But some folks knew that the old “engine house” at 950 Third St. — completed in 1870 — had a higher and better use.
“These kinds of buildings are exactly what Historic Macon should be working on,” David Thompson, one of those Saturday riders, said at the time.
But Max Crook, another longtime HMF supporter and former board chair, upped the ante: “This is where Historic Macon’s office ought to be!”
It was a point of civic pride when it was built. A brief item in the Telegraph and Messenger on Dec. 28, 1869, noted that “the new engine house of Mechanics’ Fire Company No. 4, … is rapidly approaching completion, and when finished it will be one of the most handsome and conveniently located houses of the kind in the city.”
Notice the tower — long gone — in this old photo of the engine house.
The first floor held the fire engine, the “hose wagon,” other equipment — and the horses that pulled the volunteer firefighters’ wagon. The second floor was a large, open space that served as dormitory, office and meeting space. Here, too, was the hose tower, used to dry the fabric hoses.
At the time, there was a back entrance to the building. After a fire run, the horse-drawn wagon pulled in there so it’d be facing forward for the next emergency. The volunteers took off the horse collars, harnesses and other gear and went home — or back to work.
A look up to the top of the engine house tower, inside the building.
The fire company itself was organized June 1, 1868, made up of mechanics who worked nearby (hence the name.) Their first engine was a hand-me-down: the old hand engine of Protection Fire Company No. 1, which had gotten a “steamer” — a steam engine.
A volunteer fire department, the Macon Fire Brigade, had formed in 1832, about four months after a fire wiped out a two-block business section of Mulberry Street. In 1854, City Council passed an ordinance to organize a Macon Fire Department.
By 1887, though, a decline in the volunteer system was evident. Volunteers lost money when they left their jobs to answer a fire call, and many of them got pressure from their bosses at work. The first paid company went into service that year, with 12 men as “the nucleus,” according to The Macon Daily Telegraph. Volunteer units disbanded.
You can see the old state Farmers Market across the street in these photos.
As for the old Mechanics Engine House No. 4, it was active until 1932, according to the Vintage Macon Facebook site. In the years afterward, it was a social services department, a mechanics shop for the Fire and Police departments, a sewing room, a day care, a community center, a TV repair shop, and a tax preparation office, among other uses. Old-timers will remember the state Farmers Market that operated across the street for years.
But there it sat in April 2018 — and Crook’s challenge.
It was an unlikely proposition. Historic Macon had moved into a new office on Poplar Street in 2017, and here was Crook suggesting yet another move just 2 ½ years later.
The old firehouse had been on the market awhile, and there had been no strong offers. Ideally, a private developer would have come in to “get this building back to life,” Garlington said. Only that wasn’t happening.
So as a “developer of last resort,” Historic Macon began kicking the tires. In May 2018, Crook and Garlington went inside the building to look around.
Everything downstairs — where offices had been off and on — was covered up, but at least it had kept up with the times, with wall-to-wall carpeting, drop ceilings and more.
Upstairs? “It looked like it hadn’t been touched in a hundred years,” Garlington recalled.
As radical as the prospect had seemed at one time, the thinking now became clear. The building — the oldest standing masonry firehouse in Georgia, we believe — needed saving. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
“So if we have an opportunity now when this building is for sale, let’s proactively put our money where our mouth is and buy it,” Garlington explained.
In August 2018, the HMF board approved the purchase. We closed on the sale that October.
Thanks to our Fading Five fund, Historic Macon was able to negotiate a “bargain sale.” The building appraised for $170,000. We bought it for $135,000. The owner got a $35,000 write-off.
It still needed a lot of work, of course. We asked to reallocate money in the Downtown Loft Revolving Loan Fund, funded by the Peyton Anderson Foundation, the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, the 1772 Foundation, and the E.J. Grassmann Trust. They agreed. We broke the big news during our 2020 annual meeting video.
Work began in summer 2020, in the early stages of the pandemic. Renovations were fairly straightforward, Garlington said, although there were hurdles. The office space is actually smaller than our former Poplar Street home, which we’ll be leasing.
Our construction crew even found old photos and re-created the huge doors that covered the original arched entryway. (And just so you know: We think there were two fire poles in the building back in the day. There were none by the time we got involved.)
For all the project’s challenges, we’re proud of the outcome. It’s a bold move. We’re one more jewel on a street that is now teeming with new energy. The renovated Robert Train Building is right up the street, and our new duplexes in Beall’s Hill are rising out of the ground as we speak.
“Not only is it an iconic building that needed to be saved, needed a good use, but in this case we are again pushing the boundaries of what people think of when they think of downtown,” Garlington said. “We’re generating activity … and revitalizing the Oglethorpe Street corridor for other investments.”
Marvin Riggins, who retired as Macon-Bibb County’s fire chief in 2020, got a recent look at our new office and was pleased.
“I’m just so happy to see this building preserved,” he said. “It is a treasure for our community — and our city. It adds historic value to the entire community.
“Without vision, it would be lost.”
With our move, we’re also closer to our Flea Market warehouse, just two blocks away. And our shop on Second Street is nearby.
Even though we’ve moved in, we’re not through. There are plans to dig up all the asphalt in front, uncovering old cobblestones and putting down turf — and trees — that old photos show were once there.
“It will be beautiful one day,” Garlington promised.
We held an open house in September 2020, letting members see the early stages of our renovation work. We’ll have another one soon to reveal the result.
“This building has not looked this good — ever, frankly,” Garlington said. “When it was built it was lovely. But it had horse stalls. It was functional. Now, it’s beautiful and unlike anything else in town.”
A BIG THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS
Funders*:
Peyton Anderson Foundation;
1772 Foundation;
E.J. Grassmann Trust;
Community Foundation of Central Georgia;
Beverly Knight Olson;
Knight Foundation.
*Most of these funders initially invested in HMF's Downtown Loft Revolving Fund in 2013. After the success of our 551 Cherry Street project in 2015, we couldn't find another suitable building. As such, these funders generously reallocated the revolved funds to the rehabilitation of the Fire Hall.
Trades:
RDG Ventures — donated services;
Tom and Christian Yun — lead contractors;
Pro-Aire — HVAC subcontractor;
Bowman Electric — electrical subcontractor;
Ricky Hopson — plumbing subcontractor;
Michelle Garlington Interiors — design;
Shannon Fickling — architecture;
Laurie Fickling — landscape design (not yet complete);
Electrical Design Consultants — engineering;
PiTech Engineers — in-kind structural engineers;
Total Design Services — HVAC and plumbing engineers;
Cherry Street Energy — solar;
Dublin Glass — storefront doors and glass office doors;
Willingham Sash and Door;
The Floor Guy — partially donated services;
Noland — donated plumbing fixtures;
Mac Scarbary — plumber;
Georgia Artisan — site work;
Geotechnical & Environmental Consultants;
Lisenby and Associates;
Cana Communications;
Burt & Burt;
Mantai Remodeling;
Advent Business Interiors;
Traditions in Tile & Stone;
Builder's FirstSource;
Warno-Cam;
Trading Post Moving & Storage — donated moving services;
Olde Town Shutters & Interiors;
IconiCraft Custom Cabinets;
Elite Cleaning Services;
Big Hair Productions.