The Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association, which fought for the building’s historical designation, requested certain interior aspects remain preserved.
With a prospective buyer in mind and in accordance with the Long Beach Cultural Heritage Commission’s recommendation, Long Beach City Council officially designated Fire Station No. 9 as a historical landmark Tuesday night.
The Los Cerritos Neighborhood former fire station will uphold its exterior properties, while the City Council voted to allow some “flexibility” on some of the interior properties, which have remained unchanged since the building’s construction in 1938.
Director of Community Development Christopher Koontz stated some of the reasons that prompted the flexibility include reports of mold over the last two decades.
“We may not be able to find a new owner and operator of the building if we’re overly restrictive,” Koontz said.
The building has sat empty since 2019, after multiple firefighters began reporting feelings of sickness. The mold was remediated in 2022, according to City documents.
Long Beach held public tours for interested buyers in August 2023, which prompted almost 20 bids for the property.
Within the same time period, the Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association (LCNA) paid the $1,000 application fee to get the building designated as historical, with the hope of having it transformed into a Community Center.
The Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously voted in September to designate Fire Station No. 9 as a historical building, and unanimously voted again in November to have both the exterior and interior preserved.
The main interior aspects the Cultural Heritage Commission requested to be preserved include:
- The reception room fireplace, built-in shelves and blackboard
- The apparatus/engine room’s wood truss ceiling
- Fire hose tower
- Original doors
- Original lockers
- Stairway
- Vault
Immanuel Valencia with the Cultural Heritage Commission said that the fireplace, wood truss ceiling and fire hose tower are the main priorities to preserve. City staff recommended “conditional preservation,” which allows the buyer to replace interior aspects of the building that are determined infeasible.
To remove or replace an interior aspect, the buyer has to complete a HABS-like photo shoot so whatever replaces the features can be replaced by something very similar. The removed feature must also be submitted for architectural/historical salvage.
“The goal of historic preservation is to preserve key contribution features in a building, and to rehabilitate the building toward its original glory, but it is not to prevent all change or restrain future uses,” Koontz said.
Jeanne Williams of the LCNA was one of the main proponents of the City maintaining ownership of the building so it can serve the community, asked City Council to “please be sure it’s not the buyer telling the city what to do with the property, but the city telling the buyer.”
The City is currently in talks with Gemmae Bakery, the Filipino-owned bakery and historically designated legacy business in West Long Beach. The bakery has been operating in Long Beach since 1993, and originally opened in the Philippines in 1979.
“We do understand the importance of preserving rich history and we’re open to working with the Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association and the Heritage Commission to find a solution, but in order to create a safe environment for our business to operate in, we need the flexibility to address the issues present in the firehouse,” Catherine Tolentino, co-owner of Gemmae Bakery said at the City Council meeting.
Historically designated buildings can be exempt to certain aesthetic or energy-preserving rules, but they still have to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and health and safety codes.
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