Historic South Bend firehouse begins renovations

SOUTH BEND, Ind.- The Historic Firehouse #7 held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday to begin restorations and repairs.

The project will address safety upgrades, ensure accessibility, and preserve and honor the landmark status of the building.

The firehouse, which sits on the corner of Notre Dame Avenue and South Bend Avenue, was built in 1904, and was a fire station until 1968.

It currently serves as the meeting place for the Northeast Neighborhood Council.

A volunteer committee has been working to raise funds over the last year to restore the building and make it look like it did when it was originally built.

Elizabeth Leachman, the Firehouse Campaign Coordinator said, "We’ve done some minor improvements here and there, just to keep the building operating and safe, but it’s come to the point where we need to do a pretty big overhaul to bring it back to what it looked like in 1904 and make it a really beautiful anchor in the neighborhood again.”

The project has raised around $157,000, but is still hoping for about $93,000 more.

If you would like to help by donating time, money, or skills to the campaign, visit their website.