The Firehouse Gallery will be back for the 45th annual Sunset Beach Art Festival this weekend.
Although the building, which outdates the festival, is undergoing a renovation so it can be used as a community facility, it will play its part in the traditional Mother’s Day weekend event in the seaside neighborhood.
The Sunset Beach Community Association, which had seen the local volunteer firefighter program phased out, about a year ago, purchased the defunct building, which has deep roots in the area’s history, for $200,000 last year from the Orange County Fire Authority. Most of the money came from home-grown donations.
“It was originally built in 1950,” said Mike Van Voorhis, Community Association president. “Before that the volunteer firefighters, which were formed in 1949, had operated out of a lean-to.”
Van Voorhis said around that time, a woman in Sunset Beach sold three adjacent lots on 12th Street. Two became the Sunset Beach Community Center, while one was used for the firehouse.
“She essentially gave one lot to the Orange County Fire Department,” Van Voorhis said. “The Fire Department had a sweetheart deal, but they did own it and paid taxes on it.”
The community raised about $100,000 for the renovation, but it still needs about $10,000 more to complete the project, according to Van Voorhis. Once it is completed, it will serve as a meeting place for community meeting and social activities, as well as an office.
It will also contain a bit of Sunset Beach history.
“It will still have a firehouse theme,” Van Voorhis said. “We don’t want to forget where we came from.”
Van Voorhis said the project was made possible thanks to many local community members who donated $1,000 or more toward the project. Their names will be posted on a plaque that will adorn the outside of the building.
“It will be a wonderful asset when it is finally done,” Van Voorhis said. “We are hoping it can be completed over the summer. It will have all new electrical, sewer pipes and hookups to utility lines. It’s been a major remodel.”
The project has been a challenging combination of the Sunset Beach community working on a shoestring budget and working its way through the permit process at the city of Huntington Beach, which annexed Sunset Beach last year. Before that, the neighborhood had been an unincorporated area of Orange County.
Van Voorhis said that donations have dwindled in the past couple of months, but more money is still needed to put the project in the black.
To donate, send checks to the Sunset Beach Community Association’s Firehouse Renovation at P.O. Box 215,Sunset Beach, CA, 90742.
