A concrete pedestal sits beside the fire station at 2375 Lillie Avenue. It measures about six feet by five feet, carries a wooden cross, and has raised letters dedicating it "to the loyalty of those who joined the colors from here." The names of the Summerland men it honors run down two opposite sides. The back is blank. It was dedicated on September 21, 1918, and Santa Barbara County lists it as Historical Landmark No. 35, the World War I Monument, also known as "Lest We Forget."
The small green space around it is Veterans Memorial Park. As of this fall, the ground under it is part of a property the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District plans to sell.
Two Addresses, a Couple of Blocks Apart
On October 19, the district completed its purchase of 2330 Lillie Avenue, the former Summerland Winery building, as the future home of Fire Station 62. Fire Chief Dan Stefano and Board President Suzy Cawthon announced it the next evening at a town hall hosted by the Summerland Citizens Association, Coastal View News reported. Noozhawk put the purchase price at $5.3 million.
Here is where the two sites stand now:
| Current station | Future Station 62 | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 2375 Lillie Ave. | 2330 Lillie Ave. |
| Built as | A market that later took in emergency facilities | Mixed-use building with commercial space downstairs and a residence upstairs |
| Most recent other use | Shared a building with Sharkey's Market around 1961 | Summerland Winery; the upstairs was last used as an Airbnb |
| District's plan | Sell the property to help fund the new station | Retrofit it and keep its facade and character |
The new station replaces one building, and the plan to sell the old site brings a second piece of Lillie Avenue into play.
Why Moving a Couple of Blocks Took Twenty Years
The current station is more than 100 years old and was never built for fire engines. Over the years the district has modified trucks and equipment so they would fit inside, Coastal View News reported. Crews sleep in a dormitory-style room and share one bathroom. They also live with the traffic noise from Highway 101, which runs right alongside. Stefano told Noozhawk that the station was once rated "the second worst in all of California," and that the freeway kept the district from expanding where it is.
Finding a replacement in a town squeezed between the mountains and the coast was slow work. The district's announcement, published by the Santa Barbara Independent, cites limited land, active fault lines and environmental constraints. At one point the district looked at a station shared with the Montecito Fire Protection District on the former QAD site. That idea faded after the University of California bought the property.
The site the district settled on keeps the station in downtown Summerland, close to where it has always been.
What the Old Winery Building Becomes
Summerland Winery founder Nebil "Bilo" Zarif opened the tasting room at 2330 Lillie in 2004, in what the Independent described in 2014 as a "cozy cottage." The winery has since closed, and the building had been on the market at $5.3 million, according to the Montecito Journal. The lot covers 11,731 square feet, and the building has 5,932 square feet.
The district plans to retrofit the building rather than tear it down. Firefighters will live upstairs, and offices and a training room will go downstairs. Each crew member gets a private sleeping room and bathroom. The plans also include a gym, more storage, gear storage kept apart from living quarters to limit exposure to carcinogens, and soundproofing and modern alert systems meant to keep nighttime noise down for neighbors. Noozhawk reported the renovation estimate at $6 million to $8 million. Stefano said that is "considerably less" than demolishing the old station and rebuilding from scratch.
For people who live nearby, the training room may matter most. Stefano told Coastal View News the downstairs room is planned for sharing with groups like the Summerland Citizens Association and Summerland Beautiful. That would give Summerland a regular meeting room in the middle of town.
The schedule, as the district has described it:
- About a year of permitting, environmental review and design with Santa Barbara County.
- About a year of construction.
- Public input once conceptual plans exist, through regular board meetings, community meetings and possibly a dedicated email address or website.
Stefano told Noozhawk the goal is to have the station running within two years from December. Emergency response continues without interruption the whole time. Parking is still an open item. "We understand that the downtown area and parking are sensitive," Stefano told Coastal View News, "and we are going to work with the county and the community on what's best for parking."
Other storefronts along this stretch have changed hands as well. The Lillie, Lacey Peterson's home and needlepoint shop, is at 2474 Lillie. The former Home Crush space at 2500 Lillie is now Sara Brennan's Miss B's Children's Club. When the station is done, 2330 becomes a civic building in the middle of that shopping block.
The Park That Comes With the Sale
The district plans to sell the current station property to help pay for the new station, following the legal requirements for selling public property. Ownership of the park is split three ways:
- The monument belongs to the County of Santa Barbara, according to the county's landmark record.
- The land under the park belongs to the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire District and Caltrans, according to the Summerland Community Foundation.
- The upkeep has come from the Summerland Citizens Association, which first landscaped the park and has looked after it since the 1960s. Longtime volunteer Sonya Harris leads much of the work, and the Foundation has paid for tree lighting, trimming, and trash and weed removal.
So a park the town has cared for over six decades sits partly on a parcel that is about to be sold. Coastal View News asked Stefano whether the district might split the property and keep the park for community use.
"We haven't gotten into that greater discussion because we are still finalizing (details). But certainly, the fire district board could make a decision to do so. I think anything and everything is on the table."
The monument has been moved once already. According to the county's record, it first stood between Highway 101 and the railroad tracks near Lookout Park and was later moved to its current spot beside the station. The county rated its condition "Excellent" when it was designated a landmark in 1995.
Where the Decision Gets Made
The decision will be made by the fire district board. Its meetings page says the board generally meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Carpinteria City Hall, and it posts agendas ahead of each meeting. The November 4 meeting dealt with staffing, finances and flooring at Station 61. Station 62 came up only in a staff report that listed it among upcoming infrastructure projects. The district is also thinking further ahead. Stefano has mentioned a possible third station on district property along Via Real and long-term improvements to Station 61 in Carpinteria.
The Summerland Citizens Association hosted October's town hall and has cared for the park the longest. Summerland Beautiful has its Annual Holiday Fundraising Party on December 4, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with the location to be announced on its events page. People with questions about the station can call the district's administrative office at (805) 684-4591.
At the David Kim Group, we follow changes like this block by block because they shape what owning a home in Summerland is like day to day. If you live near Lillie Avenue and want to talk through what a new civic building on the 2300 block could mean for your property, reach out to get your free home valuation.
