Residents who toured the refurbished Fort Seward Fire Hall during a Sunday open house had praise for it and owners Joanne Waterman and Phyllis Sage.
“They were so brave to take this on, to conceive of that vision and say, ‘Yes, we can handle it,’” said resident Leanne Converse, one of about 70 people who turned out on a foggy afternoon to see the nearly completed building. Recent interior work includes a stairway made with local birch.
Converse said the structure’s rebuilt 60-foot hose tower makes her giggle every time she sees it. “There it is, like it was and like it should be. (Waterman and Sage) turned an eyesore into a landmark. Now people can say, ‘Just look for the tower.’”
Doris Ward, a 50-year-resident, watched a computer slideshow that included historical photos and recent ones showing a dilapidated building Waterman and Sage bought two years ago. Ward was one of several visitors who said they never expected to see the building restored. “It’s great to see that local people will preserve a building, using local materials… The whole thing is a museum.”
Furniture maker John Carlson also was enthused. “What a transformation,” he said. “It’s a good thing someone has inspiration. I walked by this thing for years and you couldn’t even see in it, it was so full of junk. This building is something.”
Ambulance crew member Anne Boyce recalled the building’s most recent use – by the fire department as storage for a secondary ambulance. “You’d wrestle the door open and hope you remembered where the key was. The ambulance was just kind of squeezed in here, and (the driveway) wasn’t necessarily plowed, either.”
Nishan Weerasinghe said he and his two young sons have been driving by the renovation project for months, checking on progress. “It’s been amazing. They’ve been working on it so hard. They were out stripping and framing it up in the coldest part of the winter.”
Christina Baskaya, the Haines Borough’s community and economic development special projects director, said the rebuilt fire hall helps maintain Fort Seward’s identity. “In terms of its marketability, it’s an identifying object, a military fort. It’s been losing that in its old age. That’s very important feature for cruise ships and visitors.”
The restoration also provides another business location, which helps the economy, Baskaya said.