CITY OF MIAMI FIRE TRAINING TOWER 3700 NW 7 TH AVENUE

CITY OF MIAMI FIRE TRAINING TOWER 3700 NW 7 TH AVENUE Designation Report City of Miami

REPORT OF THE CITY OF MIAMI PRESERVATION OFFICER TO THE HISTORIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION BOARD ON THE POTENTIAL DESIGNATION OF THE THE CITY OF MIAMI FIRE TRAINING TOWER AS A HISTORIC SITE Prepared by Amy Streelman for Janus Research, Consultant Prepared by Sarah E. Eaton, Preservation Officer Passed and Adopted on Resolution No.

CONTENTS I. General Information 4 II. Significance 6 III. Description 10 IV. Planning Context 14 V. Bibliography 15 3

I. GENERAL INFORMATION Historic Name: City of Miami Fire Training Tower Current Name: City of Miami Fire Training Tower Location: 3700 NW 7 th Avenue Miami, Florida Present Owner: City of Miami 444 SW 2 nd Avenue, Suite 325 Miami, Florida 33130 Present Use: Vacant Zoning District: G/I Tax Folio Number: 01-3123-046-0010 Boundary Description: Tract A of the plat of MOORE PARK, as recorded in Plat Book 86 at Page 45, of the Public Records of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Classification: Historic Site 4

CITY OF MIAMI FIRE TRAINING TOWER 3700 NW 7 TH AVENUE location site plan 5

II. SIGNIFICANCE Specific Dates: Fire Training Tower - 1933 1934 Fire College - 1948; addition - 1959 Fire Station - 1974 Architect: Unknown Builder/Contractor: Unknown Statement of Significance: The City of Miami Fire Training Tower is historically and architecturally significant as a reflection of the early twentieth century history of the City of Miami and its Fire Department, and as an illustration of the architectural trends of the 1930s in its Art Deco design. This structure was constructed during the Depression era of the 1930s. Upon its completion, the tower was used by the City s Fire Department in an effort to train the local fire fighters in progressive fire fighting methods. Exhibiting only minor alterations, this structure is an intact example of a historic fire training tower, constructed by the local government with funding from the federal government. Built between 1933 and 1934, the structure is functional, yet exhibits decorative elements of the Art Deco style, which was one of the most popular styles in the area during the time of construction. In 1925, at the height of the Florida Land Boom era, the City of Miami annexed an additional 42 square miles of property into the City limits. The communities that were absorbed by the City at this time included Silver Bluff, Coconut Grove, Beacom Manor, Allapattah, Little River, Lemon City, and Buena Vista. As a result of the annexation of these communities, it was necessary for the City to increase the services required by the rapidly increasing population. As part of the expanded services, fire stations were planned for most of the newly annexed areas, including Buena Vista. In a local newspaper article dating from August 1925, a fire station was to be constructed at NW 36 th Street and NW 7 th Avenue in the Buena Vista neighborhood. By 1927, the Buena Vista station, or Fire Station No. 6, designed by architect E. A. Ehmann, was completed at a cost of $40,000. In the 1930s, National Geographic magazine featured an article on the City 6

of Miami, which claimed that the Mediterranean Revival style Fire Station No. 6 was the most beautiful fire station in the world. Fire Station No. 6 was located adjacent to Moore Park in the Buena Vista area. Perhaps because there was some open land surrounding the station, a portion of property directly north of the fire station was chosen as the site for the City of Miami Fire Training Tower in the 1930s. Prior to the construction of the Fire Training Tower, training drills usually were held at the hose towers of Stations No. 1 and 4. Funded by the Works Progress Administration program under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the new Fire Training Tower was constructed between 1933 and 1934. The five-story structure was constructed as part of an effort by the City s Fire Department to standardize fire hose handling, hose layouts, and ladder raising, and to make fire fighting more effective and efficient. To assist with the training drills, the tower was equipped with interior stairs, a fire escape, standpipe, and partial sprinkler system. The first floor housed offices. Upon the completion of the Fire Training Tower, the City s Fire Department entered a new era of fire fighting. Chief A. M. Willis was the first Drill Master to serve as the head of Fire Department training at the tower. Department Chief Henry Chase appointed Willis to the position because he was familiar with the training techniques used in the country s large cities. While head of training, Willis developed uniform methods of hose evolutions, hose advancing, and ladder handling. The training facilities were expanded when a two-story experimental fire building was constructed on the site in 1948. Known as the Oakley Building, it was constructed of fire resistant materials and used to test fire extinguishing methods and the causes of water damage. By the early 1950s, the building was no longer in use, as the neighborhood residents objected to the training fires. Subsequently, it was converted into classrooms, offices, and a print shop. An addition to the Oakley Building was constructed in 1959, which served as administration offices and classrooms for the Fire College. In the early 1970s, Fire Station No. 6 was considered too old and inefficient and was eventually demolished; the present station was constructed on the same site in 1974. The City s Fire Department continued to use the Fire-Training Tower and administration and classroom building through 1982. The classroom and administration building is extant, but it is no longer used by the Fire Department. The Fire- Training Tower likewise is not in use. In addition to it historical significance, the Fire Training Tower is architecturally important. Indicative of the time period in which it was built, the structure exhibits the Art Deco style, one of the most popular architectural styles in South Florida during the 1930s. Constructed by the local government with the assistance of federal funding, the fire training tower was a symbol of the Fire Department and its progressive training techniques, and served as a local landmark. Therefore, at the time, the Art 7

Deco style was appropriate for this structure, as it represented Miami s modern, forward-thinking Fire Department. The Modern styles, such as Art Deco and Art Moderne, received recognition in the early 1920s, when the Chicago Tribune held a competition for its new headquarters building. The winner of the competition created a Gothic design, but the second place winner, Eliel Saarinen, submitted an Art Deco design. Saarinen s design was extensively publicized and the Art Deco style quickly became fashionable and remained popular through 1940. Art Deco as it applies to buildings in Miami and other areas in South Florida was dominant from the late 1920s through the 1940s. Characteristic features of the style include a stepped or setback façade, smooth wall surfaces of stucco, flat roofs, strong vertical emphasis, and low-relief ornamentation with stylized motifs. Verticality is achieved through towers, window spandrels, and vertical projections. Decorative motifs often exhibit abstract geometric designs such as zigzags or chevrons or organic designs such as sunbursts or fountains. The City of Miami Fire Training Tower reflects the Art Deco style through several elements of its design. The most notable feature is the verticality achieved through the shaft of the building s upper four floors. Verticality is further emphasized through the narrow, vertical projections located on each elevation of the tower shaft. The first floor base of the building features a smooth stucco finish, simple window surrounds scored in the stucco, and a keystone motif above the main entrance; each of these elements is influenced by the Art Deco style. The Fire Training Tower also features a crenelated parapet with stepped crenelets. This element is most obviously derived from the Gothic Revival style, but reflects the geometric decorative details typical of the Art Deco style as well. Relationship to Criteria for Designation: The City of Miami Fire Training Tower has significance in the historical and architectural heritage of the City of Miami; possesses integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association; and is eligible for designation under the following criteria: 3. Exemplifies the historical, cultural, political, economic, or social trends of the community. The City of Miami Fire Training Tower reflects the early twentieth century history of the City of Miami and its Fire Department. This structure was built between the years of 1933 and 1934 by the local government with funding from the federal Works Progress Administration program. Throughout its history, the tower was used by the City s Fire Department in an effort to train local fire fighters in progressive fire fighting methods. 8

5. Embodies those distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or method of construction. The City of Miami Fire Training Tower illustrates the architectural trends of the 1930s through its Art Deco design, and it is significant as an example of the Art Deco style as applied to an unusual building type. Several aspects of its design exemplify the Art Deco style, particularly the verticality, which is expressed through the shaft of the structure s upper four floors and the narrow, vertical projections located on each elevation of the tower shaft. The tower has the appearance of a truncated Art Deco skyscraper from the era. Another noteworthy feature of the fire training tower is the Gothic Revival inspired crenelated parapet. 9

III. DESCRIPTION Present and Original Appearance: Setting: The City of Miami Fire Training Tower is located on the west side of NW 7 th Avenue. The fire training tower faces onto NW 7 th Avenue and is set back approximately 20 feet from the street. A modern Fire Station building is located to the south of the tower and a Fire College building is located to the north. Moore Park is located west of the Fire Training Tower and is separated from the property by a chain link fence. A paved parking lot immediately surrounds the tower. Main Structure: The five-story City of Miami Fire Training Tower exhibits the Art Deco style of architecture, with some Gothic Revival influences. The tower has a square exterior plan, with a reinforced concrete structural system set on a concrete slab foundation. The exterior walls are covered with a smooth stucco finish. The flat roof is covered with built-up materials and is obscured by a Gothic Revival inspired crenelated parapet; each of the parapet s crenelets has a stepped appearance. Fenestration generally consists of wood, doublehung sash windows with two-over-two light configurations; some of the windows are no longer extant or are missing their glass panes. The south elevation features metal fire escapes. The structure s first floor is relatively plain; a water table extends approximately four feet above the foundation and the wood, double-hung sash windows have simple concrete surrounds. The main entrance on the east elevation has modern double-doors topped with an Art Deco inspired keystone motif. The upper four stories are set on the wide, first-floor base of the building. Emphasizing the verticality of the structure, pilaster-type elements, which terminate at the crenelated parapet, project slightly from each elevation on the upper four floors. Five vertical elements are found on the east and west elevations, and four are located on the north and south elevations. The east and west elevations also feature eight windows with concrete sills, two on each floor. The south elevation has metal stairways leading to a door opening on each of the upper four floors, and the north elevation has single windows with concrete sills at each floor. This structure exhibits few alterations to its original design. The doors on the east elevation have been replaced with modern metal doors and the glass from some of the windows is missing or broken. Despite the modifications, this structure retains integrity of location, materials, design, workmanship, 10

and feeling, and therefore, the Fire Training Tower continues to convey its historic character. Contributing Structures and/or Landscape Features: The contributing structure within the site is the City of Miami Fire Training Tower. The modern Fire Station building, constructed in 1974, and the altered former Fire College building are considered non-contributing resources. There are no contributing landscape features on this site. 11

City of Miami Fire Training Tower 3700 NW 7 th Avenue East and north façades 2002 12

City of Miami Fire Training Tower 3700 NW 7 th Avenue South and east façades 1935 Historic photograph courtesy of the Florida Photographic Collection, Florida State Archives. 13

IV. PLANNING CONTEXT Present Trends and Conditions: The City of Miami Fire Training Tower is no longer in use and presently remains in a deteriorated condition. During the year 2001, the State Historic Preservation Officer determined the property eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Cultural Resource Assessment Survey of I-95/S.R. 112, conducted by Janus Research for the Florida Department of Transportation. Preservation Incentives: Because the City of Miami Fire Training Tower is an atypical resource of great value, due to its singularity, this resource should be preserved. Few preservation incentives, however, are available for government-owned properties, with the exception of the limited historic preservation grant funds that are awarded each year. If the City should choose not to rehabilitate the Fire Training Tower, it should consider leasing the structure to an interested entity such as a nonprofit organization or museum. 14

V. Bibliography Fire Stations in Plan. Newspaper article located in the microfilm collection at the City of Miami Public Library. 9 August 1925. McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. White, Larry. Miami Fire Department: 1899 1980. Taylor Publishing Company. 15