Abandoned Ghostbusters FireHouse
222 Winston St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Firehouse #23 in Los Angeles, CA,
Abandoned in the middle of skid row
Sadly it’s location is skid row, downtown Los Angeles. It was decommissioned in 1960 and has been neglected and vandalized. Fire Station #23, a.k.a. the firehouse from Ghostbusters, is located at 225 East Fifth Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
Photos credit:
- Flickr haymarketrebel
- Google Maps
Firehouse #23 was retired from active fire station duties in 1960 and was designated a historical monument in 1966.
- Opened on October 2, 1910
- Land cost $28,500
- Building cost $45,961
- Square feet – 13,640
- 26 feet wide, 167 feet deep
- Six poles
It has been described as palatial, an extravagant building of epic proportions. Upon opening in 1910, It was a three story structure with room on the ground level for a new auto truck with 65’ ladders (the truck had not arrived yet) and ten stalls for the quarter horses. The third floor was home to the fire chief and his family. It had a mantel of Vermont marble, french beveled mirrors, paneling of Peruvian mahogany, polished oak floors and leatherette wall covering on the 3rd floor reception room. The chief’s bathroom contained a large marble shower and a tub large enough for 2 chiefs. In the bedroom there was a mammoth brass bed and mahogany lockers. Across the hall was another suite finished in Peruvian mahogany and polished oak floors. The third floor could be reached by passenger elevator or a metal stairway with polished nickel railings and white wainscoting tile. There was also a freight elevator used to move supplies including the horses’ straw in the storage area on the third floor. On the second floor, there were quarters for the captains, the assembly room, reading room with a built in bookcase with doors of leaded glass. There was also the dormitory with twenty beds and lockers. This floor had white oak finish with six brass poles. The ground floor is an open arcade with enamel tiled walls, 21 foot high pressed tin ceilings and ten stalls for the horses. The stalls had sides of sheet metal and floors of wood with the latest in sanitation.
In 1966, the station was declared a Historic Cultural Monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission; at the time of the declaration the Los Angeles Times called it the “Taj Mahal of fire stations.” A Library of Congress survey of 250 firehouses concluded that Station 23’s interior was “unmatched in its beauty. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. (cited from Wikipedia)
In the years since, attempts have been made to restore the old fire house, but other decisions were made and virtually nothing has been done to the building other than sealing it up. During the 60’s and early 70’s the firehouse was looted and robbed of most all valuables including the brass poles. This left firehouse #23 a mere shell of it’s former grandeur.
When the movie crew arrived it was almost exactly as Egon described it in the movie “I think this building should be condemned. There’s serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it’s completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone.” – Egon Spengler. The film crew spent time dressing up the interior to look like the Ghostbusters headquarters you see in the movies.
Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters director, recalled shooting the original Ghostbusters in an LA Weekly article.
The Ghostbusters were portrayed as firemen, performing the duties of catching ghosts and were doing a public service. It was an integral part of the concept of the movie that these three guys were going into business as ghost catchers. They worked much like firemen eliminating a pubic threat. Firehouse 8 in New York City was the first location chosen for filming of the Ghostbusters headquarters. It was excellent for the exterior shots because there weren’t other buildings around and there were excellent wide shots. But the New York firehouse in Tribeca is a working firehouse and it could not be used for the interior shots. Scouts were sent to Los Angeles to locate a firehouse suitable for the interior shots, leaving the option of just using a sound stage on the table. Firehouse #23 was found in downtown Los Angeles. It was already decommissioned so they had the run of the place. The crew had to clean it up, paint and add detail since it was actually quite junky looking. Reitman remembered the downtown area of skid row was rather sketchy. But, they were busy filming inside and didn’t worry much about the neighborhood. Once cleaned up, they only had to add some furniture, a few low railings, bookcases and filing cabinets to give it an office look. The second story was cleaned up and used as their living/sleeping quarters. In the movie, their first call while they were eating Chinese food was filmed on the second floor of the firehouse. In Ghostbusters 2 the third floor of the firehouse was dressed up and used in the first scene when Ray and Winston are at the children’s birthday party. The basement was also used in the basement shots. Although they created faux walls to get the effect of a smaller space.
Retro Los Angeles Engine 23 photos courtesy: LAFire.com
Images: Google maps
Ghostbusters FireHouse #8 New York City
14 N. Moore Street, New York City, NY
Firehouse # 8 in New York City, NY was used for the exterior shots for Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2. Hook and Ladder #8 is located at 14 N. Moore Street, New York City, NY. Since it is a working firehouse, the film crew could not use the interior to film in. This firehouse was built in 1903 and was designed in the Beaux-Arts style of firehouses. The building, which originally had two vehicle doors, was halved in size in 1913 after Varick Street was widened (atlas obscure). Firehouse #8 was chosen as the Ghostbusters headquarters, reportedly because actor Dan Akroyd liked the area and the building. According to Wiki, The firehouse has also appeared in the 2005 film Hitch and in an episode of the television series Seinfeld. In 2015, Lego announced a 4,634 piece “Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters” set based on the building, released in January 2016. It is the third largest set ever made by Lego. Firehouse #8 is a popular tourist spot in Manhattan. At present writing, it is undergoing a six million dollar makeover and is shrouded in scaffolding. Normally the firemen are friendly and welcoming to sightseers. There is also the sign from Ghostbusters 2 hanging inside. The first twenty feet of the truck entrance of New York’s firehouse #8 was used for a shot in the original Ghostbusters of Ecto One exiting the building.
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