A couple in Wyandotte, Michigan, are revitalizing an old fire station to preserve a piece of history—and turn it into a family home with a ton of character.
Tony McDonald and his wife, Andrea Broecker, saw abundant potential when they decided to refurbish the building, originally built in 1929.
Currently, they’ve started demolishing the shabby interior. Getting to this stage wasn’t easy, as they faced sizable hurdles from the outset, but the project finally got the green light.
At the start, Tony and Andrea had doubts that they could tackle the daunting reno.
“I think we both had one of those moments where we were kind of second guessing ourselves at one point and saying, ‘What are we getting ourselves into?’” Andrea told the station.
There was also significant red tape that held the duo back.
“Just going through the city, doing the rezoning. The appraiser—that I would say [was] the single [wildest] part of it, finding an appraiser,” said the couple’s realtor, Ronald Fox.
Now, having committed themselves to the project, they expect it will take a full four years to complete. But it’s full of potential.
“The brickwork is amazing, the arch work,“ Tony said. ”There are just so many unique things in this building that make it absolutely stunning, so we want to preserve as much of that as possible.”
Once fully refurbished, and fully furnished, the family plans to have an open house for the public to come and visit the revamped landmark.
“We have a lot of love for this building, it just called to us, and to have the community’s support and Ron’s support for this project, it’s just a good feeling,” Tony said.
Tony and Andrea post regular updates of the building progress on their social media pages. They also plan to document the entire journey once the job is done.
