HSP worked with a coalition of organizations in 2016 to successfully prevent the planned demolition of the city's oldest surviving municipal building -- the Hope Engine Company No. 3 fire station built in 1872. A new owner planned to raze the building, located at 1 Leech Street -- just west of the intersection of West Seventh Street and Grand Avenue, to make way for a new hotel. But a lawsuit filed by HSP and several community organizations led to negotiations and a settlement resulting in the incorporation of the fire station into the new hotel development. This instance is a great example of how preservation and development can be integrated for a win-win, better projects that preserve historic resources and enrich the cultural and visual fabric of the city. It also underlines the importance of a legal framework for preservation and the power and effectiveness of small organizations collaborating.
The current Hope Engine Co. No. 3 as the Pioneer Fire Station #3, 1 Leech Street, St. Paul, 1936.
Saint Paul historian Jim Sazevich and young helper address in 2016 a community gathering to protest the threatened demolition of Hope Engine Co. No. 3, the city's oldest municipal building, constructed in 1872.
Hope Engine Co. #3, rally on March 20, 2016.
Mark Fangmeier, Tom Brock, and Elyse Jensen standing in front of Hope Engine Co. no. 3 during the March 2016 rally
