- City:
- Saco, ME
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Military and Public Safety, Firehouses
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1939
Description
Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the historic former Central Fire Station in Saco, Maine was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. contributed a $27,000 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $60,928. Construction occurred between Aug. 1938 and Mar. 1939. PWA Docket No. ME W1022.
“[T]he Central Fire Station has been a significant landmark in the Saco community from the very beginning. The brick firehouse, designed to reflect an ongoing heritage from an earlier tradition of civic service and public safety, well served its role from its construction until January 2011, when a newly built North Street facility replaced it for local firefighting operations. Since, it has remained empty– already twice threatened with demolition.”
(mainepreservation.com)
As of September 2012, the building has been sold to Cynthia Taylor of the nonprofit Housing Initiatives of New England, who says she is hoping to get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(pressherald.com)
Source notes
National Archives: Record Group 135: Public Works Administration; Projects Control Division; Entry 52: Indices to Non-Federal Projects; Report No. 5: Status of All Completed Non-Federal Allotted Projects, page 6. https://mainepreservation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Old-Central-Fire-Station.pdf https://www.pressherald.com/news/Saco-changes-course-will-sell-fire-station.htmlContribute to this Site
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