An adaptive-reuse rebirth is percolating for a century-old firehouse in Westview that oozes history but has seen better days.
Project leaders expect to submit plans to the city this month to convert the former Atlanta Fire Station No. 17 at 1383 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard into a restaurant concept called Ace Pizza.
The old fire station is part of a retail and office strip where Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard meets Cascade Avenue, across the street from an entry point to the BeltLine’s Westside Trail.
Leslie Ellsworth, a founding principal at architecture firm Studio SOGO, said drawings for the project are ready to submit, and that her client is currently working through Fulton County Health Department paperwork to move the conversion forward. A timeline for construction and the pizza joint’s opening isn’t yet clear.
The scope includes an interior buildout (currently gutted) and a new street-fronting patio, with an awning above.
Ellsworth, a Westview resident for 15 years, says the portion of the old firehouse in question has been vacant for at least five years, having last been occupied by a women’s shelter. The neighborhood fire station originally opened in the 1920s.
“Lots of cool history there,” noted Ellsworth.
Elsewhere in Atlanta, the firm’s portfolio includes work on the Grant Park Market, Grindhouse Killer Burgers on Memorial Drive, and Hawkers Asian Street Fare on the BeltLine.
Find more context, historical photos, and future plans for Westview in the gallery above.
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