331 E. Ninth Street, Downtown
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Probably my favorite of the modern fire stations, it was completed in 1951, and designed by Woodie Garber. Originally the first floor had much more glass on the north and particularly east facades. Everything above the stone sill on the first photo was glass. The aqua-tinted opaque glass is called 'Carrara Glass' or 'Vitrolite'.
References:
Snadon, Patrick (and others). 50 from the 50s. Urban Currents, 2008.
It also originally had a spray-mist system on the roof. Evaporative cooling kept it comfortable inside without need of any air conditioning. Motor operated skylights and dampers atop the stair tower glass allowed natural ventilation throughout the building by stack effect. Most mechanical engineers today don't know how to design that without a computer.
ReplyDeleteCincinnati's award-winning fire museum also used to be housed in the basement before moving to its current quarters near City Hall. The freight elevator, with ample capacity for a full size heavyweight fire engine, was decommissioned soon thereafter.
I love the collection of modern firehouses that exist downtown. This one is definitely one of my favorites, thanks for posting about it. I'm always curious about them when I go by.
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