Tulsa Fire Alarm Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Tulsa Fire Alarm Building
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Tulsa Fire Alarm Building in 2007
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 Location in Oklahoma
Location in the United States
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| Location | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
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| Built | 1931-1934 |
| Architect | Kershner, Frederick V.; Smith & Senter |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| NRHP reference No. | 03000879 |
| Added to NRHP | September 2, 2003 |
The Tulsa Fire Alarm Building is a historic building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was built in 1931 and has a cool Art Deco style. This building was once the main place where all fire alarms in Tulsa were reported.
When a fire alarm went off in the city, the signal came here. Firefighters inside this building would then tell the closest fire station where the fire was. This system was very advanced for its time. The building is located at 1010 East Eighth Street, near the Pearl District in Tulsa.
Design of the Fire Alarm Building
The building was designed by an architect named Frederick V. Kershner. He was inspired by the ancient Mayan temples. It's not a very big building, with about 6,090 square feet of space.
The building has strong steel supports and brick walls. It's decorated with many special terra cotta designs, especially images related to fire. You can see a double-headed dragon on the front of the building. There are also figures of firefighters wearing helmets. The building used to have two large Art Deco style lanterns above the front door. On the back, there are four figures that look like gargoyles, each with a hatchet on top.
The basement of the building once held a backup power system. Even though the building was finished in 1931, it took three more years to connect it to all the alarm boxes around the city. The system finally started working in 1934.
From Fire Alarms to a New Purpose
Over time, new technology made the old fire alarm system outdated. By 1958, the system used in the building was no longer the main way to report fires. Tulsa kept it as a backup until 1966. The Fire Alarm Office moved to a newer building in 1981.
The Tulsa Fire Department stopped using this building completely in 1984. It was left empty and started to fall apart. It was even damaged by a flood in 1984 and by people breaking in.
In 1994, a person named Martin Newman bought the building. Later, around 2000, the American Lung Association of Oklahoma bought it. This group spent more than five years and a lot of money (about $3.2 million) to fix up the building. They wanted it to be their new office and also a great example of how to build healthy indoor spaces. In 2003, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's recognized as an important historic site.
Plans for a Fire Museum
For a while, there were talks about turning the building into a museum. In the late 1980s, the Firefighters Union tried to buy it for a museum, but they couldn't raise enough money.
After the American Lung Association decided to sell the building in 2015, a group of people who loved fire history wanted to buy it. They hoped to turn it into a museum to show off many old firefighting items.
The Tulsa World newspaper reported in July 2015 that the building was sold to The Carol Tandy Foundation. This foundation then gave the building to Tulsa Firefighters Museum Inc.
As of early 2021, the museum was still being planned. The idea is for the main building to display items from the history of Tulsa's fire service. The lower level is planned to be an interactive area especially for kids. There are even bigger plans that include fixing up the original building and adding more space for exhibits and an outdoor area for events.
