Santa Mesa Fire Station
Poster: Karl De Santos
Photo: David Montasco
We open the New Year with another heritage issue: the impending demolition of the Santa Mesa Fire Station. While Manila “celebrates” its heritage treasures, it also demolishes and destroys them at the same time.
Santa Mesa Fire Station (December 2, 1920)
Eighth and last fire station to be built by the Americans. It was constructed to serve the growing residential areas of Santa Mesa and nearby San Juan, Rizal. It shared a similar design blueprint with the 1912 Tondo Fire station. The station survived World War Il but is currently threatened to be demolished due to a road widening project due to ongoing NLEX-SLEX Connector Road project.
Built in 1919, the Santa Mesa Fire Station, designated as Station Number 8, was the last to be built in the American and Prewar Years. It survived World War 2 and retains many firefighting technologies and equipment that provide a glimpse into Fire Fighting History in Manila. Unfortunately, through the efforts of heritage advocates and Manileños For Heritage, we found out that this more than a century-old fire station is planned to be demolished this Wednesday (January 10) due to road widening another heritage victim of unimaginative and outdated car-centric planning.
This raises awareness once again to get another heritage structure demolished in our great city! We appeal to our cultural agencies such as the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, NCCA, and the City of Manila to uphold their cultural mandate in protecting these gems of our past.
This is but one of many heritage issues facing Manila, from a planned high-rise monstrosity in Arroceros to a river obscuring the expressway, Manila and the treasures of its people are under threat. And we in Renacimiento Manila will not rest easy in the face of such cultural vandalism!
Save Manila’s Heritage!
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