Historic Boston Inc., which invests in and redevelops historically significant buildings in City neighborhoods, moved into its new home in the historic Eustis St. Fire House, which was restored with the assistance of the city of Boston over the last year.
Mayor Thomas Menino, Historic Boston executive director Kathy Kottaridis, and others cut the ribbon on the 1859 structure, the oldest remaining fire-house in the city, as hundreds of other officials, neighbors, and supporters applauded.
In partnership with the city of Boston and making use of historic tax credits, Historic Boston planned and executed the two-year, $2.5 million rehabilitation of the Italianate-style building, designed by John Hall, a noted architect of the day who also oversaw the 1859 restoration of the State House dome and cupola.
The city helped the project with a low-interest loan, and state and federal tax credits covered almost a $1 million of the restoration cost.
The Eustis St. Fire House, though historic, will be a model of energy efficiency, having been designed to achieve a LEED Silver rating from the U.S. Building Council. The design was done by Bergmeyer Associates, Inc. and Ira Baline. Construction was by Lee Kennedy Co., Inc.
The Eustis St. Fire House, located at 20 Eustis St. Dudley Sq., now houses Historic Boston's staff of six, as well as a first-floor tenant, the Timothy Smith network, which provides technology to youth in Roxbury.
Department of Neighborhood Development director Evelyn Friedman said the building is one of 15 historic properties in Dudley Sq., making it the most historic square in the city.
The Fire House first housed a steam pumper pulled by firefighters of the Roxbury Fire Department. A decade after it was built, a two-story stable for horses and a "hook and ladder" was added. Boston Engine Company 10 operated there from 1889 to 1916, disbanding in 1922. The building later housed the Spanish American War Veterans chapter and some operations of the Boston Parks Department.
The building had been vacant since the 1950s. The Eustis St. Fire House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and became part of the Boston Landmarks Commission's Eustis Architectural Conservation District in 1982.
A restored sign over the front door, "Torrent Six," refers to the first Roxbury company housed there.
The structure, adjacent to the also historic Eliot Burying Ground, was propped up to keep it from falling down in recent decades, but it was saved from demolition in 1969 and stabilized for uncertain future use in 1993. The brick structure built in 1859 replaced a wooden firehouse in Roxbury before the town merged with Boston in 1868. A wooden annex, added later, was torn down in 1991, but the new restoration added a wing on the same footprint.
Added along the brick entranceway only in the last few days was a two-dimensional sculpture by Boston artist John Tagiuri. It depicts a 19th-century steam fire apparatus pulled by firefighters in a day before horses were employed and housed on Eustis Street.
A restored sign over the front door, "Torrent Six," refers to the first Roxbury company housed there.
Historic Boston, Inc., founded in 1960, moved recently from the Old Corner Bookstore near Downtown Crossing, which was the first of many historic buildings that have been saved by the preservation and development organization.