[Kingpin]

With the Ghostbusters' Firehouse becoming a principal location again at the end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and also in the new film planned for release later this year... And with the Firehouse's interior filming location, Fire Station №23, being renovated for potential use as a Youth-Arts Center in Los Angeles's skid row... It seemed appropriate to finally make a definitive topic to concentrate all of the information that's been posted on this forum over the years... As well as to showcase some of the new information that's come to light thanks to the historical archives on Newspapers.com.

Part of this new topic will be "The Marble Palace": a definitive history of Fire Station №23, a dissertation/thesis which be posted in this topic, and will chart the early origins of Fire Station №23, the scandals surrounding the building, and the station's later life as a silent star of Hollywood's motion picture industry.

"The Marble Palace" will feature transcriptions of the quoted historical news articles, so those who are interested can read a little further into the various stages in the station's conception, and later life... And where possible, present period photographs of the station.

This new topic will also eventually feature an updated set of floor plan drawings, substantially revising the previous effort posted back in 2008-2010.

To kick things off, here's a concept illustration that was produced by architects Hudson & Munsell, which was featured in the 13th June 1909 edition of the Los Angeles Times:

[d_osborn]

Great post, Ben! The original concept image is wild, I would LOVE to see old renderings of the bay floor.

[Kingpin]

Great post, Ben! The original concept image is wild, I would LOVE to see old renderings of the bay floor.

If any surface, I'll post them... Though sadly it's likely most of the original renderings have either been lost to time or the obscurity of undigitized archives. There are some photos that aren't on the website for the Los Angeles Fire Department
Historical Archive that I'll be posting in due course.

[Ecto24601]

Cool project, looking forward to more posts! Only wish we had more and better pictures or even blueprints of Hook & Ladder 8 when it was still a 2-bay firehouse. That one image that looks like it's been taken in the 1860s is really crappy.

[d_osborn]

I've been meaning to post these-- location info sheet for LA23 circa late-80s.

Desirable Productions, ooh la la!

[Bison256]

Is it wise to keep the old phone number visible on that old flyer?

[RedSpecial]

This is so cool!
Can't wait to learn more.

[Kingpin]

I've been meaning to post these-- location info sheet for LA23 circa late-80s.

Desirable Productions, ooh la la!

Derek, I could kiss you!

I'd read about that brochure when the Los Angeles Times did it's expose on "Olde 23's", and I even got a hold of some cropped sections of it from somewhere... Maybe the old topic on Proptopia, but I've never seen the full thing before. Thank you!

[mrmichaelt]

I agree, that was frickin' amazing, Derek! Pat on the back.

[Troy]

"Desirable Productions" almost made me shoot coffee out of my nose this morning. Oh, Daniel...

Good pull, Derek!

[Kingpin]

Work continues on "The Marble Palace", and while there's nothing massively substantive to post yet, I wanted to at least provide a little tidbit, updating Fire Station №23's filmography, which was recently compiled in this topic.

** = Fire Station №23 has a major role in this production.
*= Fire Station №23 has a "cameo appearance" in this production.

•The Los Angeles Fire Department (1912) (Believed to be permanently lost)
•Foot Patrol (1947-1950) (Exact date of recording/broadcast unknown)*
•Little Shop of Horrors (1960)*
•Firehouse (1973)**
•Adam-12: "Suspect Number One" (1974)*
•Special Delivery (1976)*
•White Mama (1980)*
•Darkroom: "Uncle George" (1981)*
•Hill Street Blues: "Presidential Fever", "Film at Eleven", "Up in Arms", "Your Kind, My Kind, Humankind", "The Rites of Spring - Part 1", "The Rites of Spring - Part 2" & "Jungle Fever - Part 1" (1981)*
•True Confessions (1981)*
•Hammett (1982)**
•Honeyboy (1982)**
•Hill Street Blues: "Chipped Beef", "Zen and the Art of Law Enforcement", "The Young, The Beautiful and the Deranged", "The Shooter" & "Invasion of the Third World Body Snatchers" (1982)*
•Hill Street Blues: "Heat Rush", "Moon Over Uranus", "Life in the Minors" & "Spotlight on Rico" (1983)*
•Ghostbusters (1984)**
•Hill Street Blues: "The Long Law of the Arm", "The Russians Are Coming" & "Parting is Such Sweep Sorrow" (1984)*
•Knight Rider (1985) (Promotional video only)**
•Simon & Simon: "Almost Foolproof" (1985)*
•The A-Team: "The Road to Hope" (1985)**
•Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)**
•Hill Street Blues: "Fowl Play", "Bangladesh Slowly" & "You're in Alice's" (1985)*
•Big Trouble in Little China (1986)**
•Hill Street Blues: "Seoul on Ice", "Oh, You Kid", "An Oy for an Oy", "The Virgin and the Turkey", "Two Easy Pieces", "Say it as It Plays", "Scales of Justice", "Larry of Arabia" & "Jagga the Hunk" (1986)* (** For "The Virgin and the Turkey)
•"Where The Streets Have No Name" - U2 (1987) (Extended music video version)*
•The Wild Pair (1987)**
•Hill Street Blues: "The Best Defense", "Der Roachenkavalier", "Days of Swine and Roses", "The Runner Falls on His Kisser" & "A Pound of Flesh" (1987)*
•The Night Before (1988)*
•Ghostbusters II (1989)**
•"Call it Love": - Poco (1989)**
•Flatliners (1990)**
•Rainbow Drive (1990)**
•A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder (1990)**
•Predator 2 (1990)*
•Knight Rider 2000 (1991) (Reuse of footage from 1985 promo)**
•The Killing Mind (1991)**
•Life Stinks (1990)**
•V.I. Warshawski (1991)**
•Pyrates (1991)**
•Breaking the Silence (1992)**
•The Mask (1994)**
•Mother/The Haunted Heart (1994)**
•Set It Off (1996)**
•Lost Highway (1973)**
•Suicide Kings (1997)**
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Faith, Hope & Trick" (1998)**
•FlashPoint (1998)**
•Million Dollar Hotel (2000)*
•National Security (2003)**
•Land of Plenty (2004)**
•The Soloist (2004)*
•R(e)Evolution (2005) (A self-funded proof of concept that has never been fully released)**
•CSI: NY: "Taxi" (2008)**
•"Lloro Por Ti" - Enrique Iglesias (2008)**
•Days of Wrath (2008) (Never released)**
•"Lloro Por Ti" Remix - Enrique Iglesias, Wisin & Yandel (2008)**
•"Remind Me" - Erlend Oye (2008)**
•NCIS: "Stakeout" (2008)*
•Third Watch: "The Nights of Camelot" Cast Featurette (2008)**
•Body Heat (2010)**
•Grey's Anatomy: "Can't Fight Biology" (2010)**
•"Stone Rollin'" - Raphael Saadiq (2011)**
•R(e)EVOLUTION: Hero Story (2005) (A cut-down version of the self-funded proof of concept from 2008)
•White Frog (2012)*
•Grey's Anatomy: "Remember the Time" (2012)**
•Young Turks (2013) (Featuring vintage photos and video from 1981)**
•Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles (2016) (Featuring vintage stock footage recorded circa 1950s)*
•Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)**
•Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Firehouse (2021)**
•Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Summoning The Spirit (2021)*

If anyone knows of any appearances that aren't on this list, I'm all ears... Likewise, if anyone can point me to that cast interview from the first season of Third Watch, or post some screenshots of it, that'd be awesome.

[FloranceFlorance]

Work continues on "The Marble Palace", and while there's nothing massively substantive to post yet, I wanted to at least provide a little tidbit, updating Fire Station №23's filmography, which was recently compiled in this topic.

•The Los Angeles Fire Department (1912) (Believed to be permanently lost)
•Foot Patrol (1947-1950) (Exact date of recording/broadcast unknown)
•Firehouse (1973)
•Adam-12: "Suspect Number One" (1974)
•White Mama (1980)
•Darkroom: "Uncle George" (1981)
•Hill Street Blues: "Presidential Fever", "Film at Eleven", "Up in Arms", "Your Kind, My Kind, Humankind", "The Rites of Spring - Part 1", "The Rites of Spring - Part 2" & "Jungle Fever - Part 1" (1981)
•True Confessions (1981)
•Hammett (1982)
•Hill Street Blues: "Chipped Beef", "Zen and the Art of Law Enforcement", "The Young, The Beautiful and the Deranged", "The Shooter" & "Invasion of the Third World Body Snatchers" (1982)
•Hill Street Blues: "Heat Rush", "Moon Over Uranus", "Life in the Minors" & "Spotlight on Rico" (1983)
•Ghostbusters (1984)
•Hill Street Blues: "The Long Law of the Arm", "The Russians Are Coming" & "Parting is Such Sweep Sorrow" (1984)
•Knight Rider (1985) (Promotional video only)
•The A-Team: "The Road to Hope" (1985)
•Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
•Hill Street Blues: "Fowl Play", "Bangladesh Slowly" & "You're in Alice's" (1985)
•Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
•Hill Street Blues: "Seoul on Ice", "Oh, You Kid", "An Oy for an Oy", "The Virgin and the Turkey", "Two Easy Pieces", "Say it as It Plays", "Scales of Justice", "Larry of Arabia" & "Jagga the Hunk" (1986)
•"Where The Streets Have No Name" - U2 (1987) (Extended music video version)
•The Wild Pair (1987)
•Hill Street Blues: "The Best Defense", "Der Roachenkavalier", "Days of Swine and Roses", "The Runner Falls on His Kisser" & "A Pound of Flesh" (1987)
•Ghostbusters II (1989)
•"Call it Love": - Poco (1989)
•A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder (1990)
•Flatliners (1990)
•Rainbow Drive (1990)
•Predator 2 (1990)
•Knight Rider 2000 (1991) (Reuse of footage from 1985 promo)
•The Killing Mind (1991)
•V.I. Warshawski (1991)
•Pyrates (1991)
•The Mask (1994)
•The Haunted Heart/Mother (1994)
•Set It Off (1996)
•Lost Highway (1973)
•Suicide Kings (1997)
•Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Faith, Hope & Trick" (1998)
•FlashPoint (1998)
•National Security (2003)
•Land of Plenty (2004)
•R(e)Evolution (2005) (A self-funded proof of concept that has never been fully released)
•CSI: NY: "Taxi" (2008)
•"Lloro Por Ti" - Enrique Iglesias (2008)
•"Lloro Por Ti" Remix - Enrique Iglesias, Wisin & Yandel (2008)
•Days of Wrath (2008) (Never released)
•"Remind Me" - Erlend Oye (2008)
•NCIS: "Stakeout" (2008)
•Body Heat (2010)
•Grey's Anatomy: "Can't Fight Biology" (2010)
•"Stone Rollin'" - Raphael Saadiq (2011)
•R(e)EVOLUTION: Hero Story (2005) (A cut-down version of the self-funded proof of concept from 2008)
•Grey's Anatomy: "Remember the Time" (2012)
•White Frog (2012)
•Young Turks (2013) (Featuring vintage photos and video from 1981)
•Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

If anyone knows of any appearances that aren't on this list, I'm all ears... Likewise, if anyone can point me to that cast interview from the first season of Third Watch, or post some screenshots of it, that'd be awesome.

I think that everything is there in the list.

[Hairy Biker]

Where was it in Predator 2?

[Kingpin]

Where was it in Predator 2?

The rear end of Fire Station №23 is visible in the background during the opening street battle between the L.A.P.D. and the drug gang, it's the prominent green building in the background as Danny Glover's Lieutenant Harrigan drives into the shootout.

[Hairy Biker]

Where was it in Predator 2?

The rear end of Fire Station №23 is visible in the background during the opening street battle between the L.A.P.D. and the drug gang, it's the prominent green building in the background as Danny Glover's Lieutenant Harrigan drives into the shootout.

Well I'll be.
Guess it's time for a re-watch. Thanks mate.

[mrmichaelt]

Yeah, right around 3:33 and 3:39. As Kingpin says, when Hardigan is driving into the scene. You'll see a red and white AllRight Parking sign and behind it is the No. 23's green rear end. They filmed this scene on Sunset Boulevard hence the cameo. I always wondered if it also cameoed in the initial Predator vision of the city at the start of the movie.

[robbritton]

Wow, I must have seen Predator 2 dozens of times and I never caught that! Will have to go see!

[Kingpin]

I always wondered if it also cameoed in the initial Predator vision of the city at the start of the movie.

I was trying to work that one out as well. I've got the film on DVD so will see if the station crops up anywhere else.

[Hairy Biker]

I always wondered if it also cameoed in the initial Predator vision of the city at the start of the movie.

I was trying to work that one out as well. I've not got the film on DVD so will see if the station crops up anywhere else.

Its on Disney+ if you have it.

[Kingpin]

I was trying to work that one out as well. I've not got the film on DVD so will see if the station crops up anywhere else.

Its on Disney+ if you have it.

For some reason I managed to add a "not" which changed the entire meaning of that sentence... I do have a copy of Predator 2, which serendipitously arrived this very morning.

Edit: After spinning through Predator 2 I didn't see any further appearances, though I'm yet to check the special features.

I do have one small update to the filmography, not a starring role by Fire Station №23, but a couple of cameo appearances in 2000's Million Dollar Hotel*, a brief appearance as Mel Gibson's Detective Skinner drives around the streets adjacent to the declining Million Dollar Hotel, and another when Tom Tom is skateboarding back to the hotel.

It's also a little amusing as this film was directed by Wim Wenders, who also directed Hammett and Land of Plenty... Which makes me think I should take a look at some of Wenders' other films set in Los Angeles, as he seems to like the Skid Row area around the station.

[Kingpin]

This is one I've wanted to see for myself for years: The cast interview for the first season DVD of Third Watch "The Nights of Camelot" was filmed in Fire Station №23:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL0eAwXi43E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSKaDWh-tcI

•Skipp Sudduth's segments were filmed in front of the row of lockers closest to the front doors of the apparatus bay.
•Anthony Ruivivar's segments were filmed in the assembly room (which was used as the Ghostbusters' bunk room). The fire pole from the Chief's penthouse is visible behind him.
•Jason Wiles's segments were also filmed in the assembly room, with the fireplace just visible to his right.
•Micheal Beach's segments were filmed in front of the door to what was likely the watch office, to the left of the front doors of the apparatus bay.

[Kingpin]

Blink and you'll miss it, a sneaky cameo in 1960's The Little Shop of Horrors (which featured one of the earliest appearances by Jack Nicholson).

The station shows up at the 1:04:21 mark:



Which rather tidily segues into this discovery I made last year (quite appropriate as it also displays the same colourisation process):


-The station shows up at the 3:14 mark.

[Kingpin]

Another new one, the assembly room (used as the Ghostbusters' dormitory) and (I believe) Captain's Quarters appear in 1982's Honeyboy as the apartment Rico shares with his mother:


-Visible from the 6:24, 15:14, 36:17, 1:03:12 marks.

The third floor landing of the staircase also shows up as part of the apartment building's stairwell, visible prominently at the 36:10 and 1:03:58 marks.

[Hairy Biker]

I wish there was a 100% accurate floor plan of this building.

[Kingpin]

I wish there was a 100% accurate floor plan of this building.

Maybe not 100%, but one of my ongoing projects is to try to produce some floor plans of Fire Station №23 which are 85%-90% accurate... The project temporarily went on hiatus as I started to study the plans that architects Brooks + Scarpa had drawn up for the refurbishment project (Viewable here), and then later when a set of plans drawn up by the LAFD in the 1960s or 1970s popped up on LADBS (which appears to not be responding at the moment).

Sadly, both sets of plans don't appear to be as accurate as they ideally should be... The 2018 ones surprisingly so, as I would've thought with modern (for 2018) methods for measuring spaces would've produced reasonably precise architectural drawings... But some of the details, such as some window locations, have shifted greatly when compared against actual photos of the station.

So I've had to go back to drawing my own plans, seeing as the official ones are less useful than they could've been.

[Hairy Biker]

I'm excited to see what you come up with.

I'm a sucker for floor plans, especially when it comes to pop culture.

[Kingpin]

I'm excited to see what you come up with.

I'm a sucker for floor plans, especially when it comes to pop culture.

Ask and you shall receive...

First up, plans from 1964, after the station had been converted into a training facility by the L.A.F.D.:




(For some reason, the renders in these plans have been rotated 180° degrees to face the opposite way to the other two sets. In these plans, the rear entrance on Winston Street is depicted at the right-hand side of the page... On the other plans, the front entrance on 5th Street is depicted in this position).

Next up, modified plans assembled by the station's "caretaker", Daniel Taylor, back when he was trying to get it turned into a community centre. The year of creation is unknown... But I believe they might date from the '70s or '80s, based on the fact they look like the base plans were hand-drawn.


(Some of these room annotations are now incorrect thanks to more recent info I've discovered)

And another set of undated plans which were featured in Brooks + Scarpa's presentation, showing the unmodified layout of the station:

[mrmichaelt]

Ask and you shall receive...

Got me thinking, wonder if they will include the blueprints/shots of blueprints for the UK set in a probable Art/Making of book release. Eric did mention they did lidar scans of No23 when they filmed the Afterlife end tag which I assume came in handy when they built the UK set.

[Hairy Biker]

Kingpin, you are legendary.

[Kingpin]

Kingpin, you are legendary.

Got me thinking, wonder if they will include the blueprints/shots of blueprints for the UK set in a probable Art/Making of book release. Eric did mention they did lidar scans of No23 when they filmed the Afterlife end tag which I assume came in handy when they built the UK set.

I hope we get to see some of the process in designing and building the Firehouse set in that hoped-for "Making of" book, both for the labour of love it was, and also the fact it'll be a valuable chapter in story of Fire Station №23.