The Color For Today is Gray: Firehouse Dipping Time
Former North Amherst firehouse (1920 - 1975), now a private home. West side view. Photo: Hetty Startup
Amherst History Month by Month
A small home on Pine Street has recently been given a new lease on life. The historic wood-framed firehouse that was built by the town in North Amherst in 1920 is now a private home. During the early 1990s, when it was listed in the North Amherst Historic District, it was vacant. Its owner, artist-activist Phyllis Labanowski, recently hired a painting crew from Leverett to work with her, and instead of picking from a range of common house colors like brick reds or buff-colored hues, they took the step of “dipping” their entire house in one color. Gray.
Dipping is all the rage for household objects and decor. With hydro-dipping (see also here), acrylic paint resting on the surface of water is then transferred onto an object through dipping the object into the paint, producing a marbling effect. An analogy of the technique has been extended to room painting by using a single color for the walls and trim. Salvaged household goods, furniture, and homestyle items are also often dipped in a single color paint. In the case of this Pine Street house, it looks like a fairy has picked up the entire house and dunked it into a pot of paint.
I had a chance to talk with Kalpana Devi, the business manager of Lion Paws Painting, who told me that her partner, Manou Africa, who supervised the job, and the crew were really pleased to be involved in such a special project so close to the historic (North Amherst) center. “The color is really beautiful, a mid-range soft gray, and we respected the dignified yet non-conformist creativity [shown].” The accents on the wood sash of the windowpanes are fire-engine red.
Lebanowski explained to me that she sometimes watches HGTV type shows to unwind (I think many of us do,) and that was where she saw interior designers dipping rooms. She had been contemplating what might work in the five years since she has owned the firehouse. I know it is hard to imagine how it might work for an entire house to be dipped in the same paint color, but Lion Paws Painting was inspired by her vision, and every wooden surface received several coats of gray paint, with the exception of the red front door and the window frames.
The use of fire engine red for the trim is appropriate, since the house served as the North Amherst Fire Station from its construction in 1920 until the North Amherst Fire Station was built at the top of Eastman Lane in 1975. The older building is close in style to the Amherst Central Fire Station built in 1930. The “steeple” on the North Amherst house was used for drying fire hoses after use.
All the house painters who worked on the house double as musicians in a band called ReBelle. If you are wondering where the name of the company came from, you can credit Manou and Kalpana’s daughter, who came back from school one day bubbling over with love for a poem by the great 14th century Sufi mystic, Hafiz.*
Everyone involved has helped to make the building sing with a new “skin.” ”And,” Lebanowski said, “tons of people, as they’re driving by or are stuck at the light, waiting for it to change, yell out their car windows, ‘We love your house!’”
For those who are wondering, the reason why the new North Amherst station wasn’t built here is that UMass was planning to close North Pleasant Street where it runs through campus. It would remain open north of Eastman lane, and that is how fire trucks would get to North Amherst.
UMass had already closed most of North Hadley Road (that ran out to the sewerage treatment plant), Lincoln Avenue between Whitmore and the Grad Tower, and Ellis Avenue which ran off of it. (The Student Union Circle was once on Lincoln Avenue with legal parking there.)
Bear in mind that North Pleasant Street used to be Route 116, with the existing bypass built in 1958. That’s all filled-in wetland and they were going to fill in a lot more on the NW end of the UM campus to build a second cloverleaf with the 116 bypass north of the existing one — each end of campus would have it’s own exit off 116.
The late John Lederlie told me that the mistake they made was in not realizing how attached people had become to their cars — they thought they could have all the parking on the outside of campus with a car-free core campus. And as to people wanting to get from one side of UMass to the other, like with the Quabbin, they could go around…
This didn’t happen for a bunch of reasons, nor did the plan to extend the 116 Bypass down to the Turnpike, nor the plan to have Route 9 bypass downtown by going through Mark’s Meadow. Amherst would be very different today had this all been done — better or worse we can debate, but definitely different. And that’s why the new fire station was put further away from where it would have done the most good.
Oh, and as to the fire hoses — back then they were made out of canvas with rubber inside, and they had to be dried out after use because otherwise sulfuric acid would form and it would destroy the hoses they had back then. I’m not sure if that is necessary today, but as late as the 1970s, every piece of hose that was used had to be hung up to dry afterwards.
Modern polyester fire hose does not need to be hung to dry. A local city found this out after a young firefighter suffered a serious injury hoicking rolls of hose up the firehouse tower to hang for drying.
I would like to clear up a few “factual” statements in the above article.
A comprehensive history of the Amherst Fire Department and its origins were documented around 1996 by two members of AFD at the time, Tim (Masloski) Goodhind and John Ingram. During their research it was found:
In August of 1901, Hose Co. No. 3 at North Amherst was formed with quarters at the Pine Street station.
I was a volunteer with the Amherst Fire Department Auxiliary Force between 1973 – 1975. The Pine Street station housed a 1932 Maxim; the only AFD pumper that would fit in this station because of its “small” size. In March of 1974 the motor on the 1932 Maxim failed on a fire response and the chief decided it wasn’t worth repairing. Therefore the use of the Pine St building was limited to equipment storage for a brief period by the fire department. And then at some point in its life it became used as a storage building for the DPW until the Town decided to sell it.
I love to see this full-scale advertisement for this local (Leverett) painting company here in the Amherst Indy:)
I also appreciate the historical information provided in the article and comments.
It brings to mind the priority and importance of a properly equipped fire station and well-staffed fire department here in current times.
“It brings to mind the priority and importance of a properly equipped fire station and well-staffed fire department here in current times.”
Or, how one can only hope (based on the decades long inaction by our “leaders” in Amherst of ensuring such) it would be.
Going on fifty years, Rita! Ever since the new North Amherst Fire Station was inaugurated in 1975.