Plaque for fire station turned community centre

Gipton fire station in east Leeds opened in the 1930s and closed as a fire station ten years ago

A building that operated as a fire station for almost 80 years before becoming a community centre is being recognised with a blue plaque.

Gipton Fire Station in east Leeds opened in 1937 and operated as a working fire station until 2015.

The building reopened as a café and community venue in 2017 to serve Gipton in a different way, with Leeds Civic Trust officially recognising its local importance.

Trust director Martin Hamilton said: "The plaque enables us to recognise the life-saving work carried out by firefighters and its transformation into a community building."

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service moved operations to a new fire station in Killingbeck in 2014 to replace the facility in Gipton.

The building was able to reopen as the The Old Fire Station with the support of the Leeds Community Foundation and funding from businessman Jimi Heselden.

"This fire station is a rare pre-World War Two survivor built to serve the new Gipton Estate and East Leeds," Mr Hamilton added.

Coralie Datta and Trevor Leighton say the venue remains an important space for the local community

Coralie Datta, a heritage coordinator at venue operator and charity Space2, said: "It is really important to keep the history and the memories of the building within the building."

The plaque, the 204th to be awarded in Leeds, recognises the building's architectural, social, and community legacy, the trust said.

It is set to be officially unveiled on Saturday evening.

Ms Datta said the community venue had gone from "strength to strength".

"It is definitely the heart of the community in Gipton - it really needed somewhere where the community could meet and be."

The Old Fire Station is supported by the Leeds Community Foundation

Trevor Leighton started as a fireman at Gipton fire station in 1969 and still regularly comes down to the café.

He initially feared for the building after the station was decommissioned, but said he was proud of how it had evolved.

"We were really upset, we were asking what was going to happen and we thought they were going to knock it down," he said.

"This was the best thing they could do."

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