Spokane Public Radio opens in historic fire station

For a few moments Saturday, radio calls from fire dispatchers once again echoed through the halls of the old Fire Station 3 on North Monroe Street.

The crew of the current Spokane Fire Department Station 3 stopped by during Spokane Public Radio’s open house to see what the radio station had done with the historic building after remodeling it. It was the dispatch calls from the radios they carried that filled the building with the once familiar sounds.

Lt. Greg Borg said he used to work in the old fire station when he first started with the department.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “It’s nice to see the building taken care of.”

The lockers where firefighters like Borg stored their equipment are still there. Some have been converted to storage to hold some of the station’s 10,000 vinyl records. The original poles the firefighters used to slide down are gone, but shiny replicas now stand in their place. Borg said they look just like the ones he slid down as a rookie in the 1911 building.

Hundreds of people packed into the old fire station to see the building that now houses three radio stations, including KPBX. There’s a performance room that can be used for concerts, interviews and live broadcasts. Just off that room is a large room with floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with CDs.

Linda Stowe, Spokane Public Radio’s chief financial officer, stood near the front entrance looking overwhelmed by the bustling crowd.

“I was hoping maybe 50 or so people would show up,” she said.

General Manager Cary Boyce spoke for a few minutes before ceremonially plugging in the new station.

“This is definitely a wonderful and great day for us,” he said. “I’m thrilled and very relieved for this project to come to an end.”

The $5 million project was funded by donations and $1 million from the state. It took nearly a decade to find a location, plan and complete the project. Remodeling began in May 2014. There were expensive hiccups along the way, including asbestos abatement and a $300,000 fix to the foundation.

Several historical items on loan from the Spokane Fire Department are on display inside the building. An old cotton-jacketed fire hose hangs from a stairwell ceiling next to a pulley that was used to haul the hose up to the ceiling so it could hang to dry after it was used. Another nod to the building’s past is the stuffed Dalmatian wearing a red fire hat in the upstairs conference room.

“This is the station loyalty and love built,” Stowe said.