Among the paintings and sculptures at the Georgetown Art Center, unique fixtures are telling a story of the past—jailhouse graffiti, a fire pole transformed into a stairwell, a water standpipe base that is now a splash pad. At nearly 130 years old, the building that now houses Georgetown’s art hub was once home to the City Jail, Fire Department, and Georgetown Water Company. Today, it has not only enriched the community through art exhibits and classes but also livened up a once-neglected part of downtown.
In 1892, the first municipal building, a combined City Hall, Calaboose (jail), and Fire Station 1, was built at the corner of Ninth and Main streets. The L-shaped structure wrapped around the water standpipe that served as the city’s water supply at the time, which at 100 feet tall towered over the city’s landscape as Georgetown’s tallest structure. The Mayor’s Office and City Council Chambers occupied the second floor while the City Marshal’s Office, City Calaboose, and Georgetown Water Company shared the first floor. The volunteer Fire Department took up space throughout the building. Back in that day, two hook-and-ladder trucks and a rescue hose cart were pulled by manpower and horses to fires, where a bucket brigade (fire hose from the rescue hose cart) would put out the flames.
For the next 121 years, the building at 816 South Main Street saw most of these entities come and go, including the Second Baptist Church of Georgetown and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, while the city’s first fire station remained a faithful tenant until 2012, when it moved to the new Fire Station 1 on Industrial Avenue. After serving the citizens through fire safety for more than a century, the building would later become a home for a different kind of public service.
BECOMING THE ART CENTER
For years, the art community in Georgetown dreamed of having a place for art galleries, classes for kids and adults, and space for artists to unleash their creativity. Advocates pushed for the creation of an art center, originally targeting the Historic Light and Water Works facility on the west side of downtown being vacated by a growing Police Department. But, when the City began renovating the building at 816 South Main Street, art center supporters saw it as a pilot program opportunity for the art center project. The Georgetown Art Center opened in 2013, featuring art exhibits, classes, and studio space for artists. The City also uses the second floor as a video studio.
The project is just another example of how Georgetown honors its history in a forward-thinking way. “That’s the great thing about Georgetown’s downtown,” former Library Director Eric Lashley says. He was on the committee that worked to create the Art Center. “We’ve been able to reuse and re-purpose historic buildings and keep them vibrant and alive.”
Remnants of the building’s previous life can be seen throughout the space, including the historic fire alarm bell outside, next to the water standpipe base that became a splash pad. “We wanted to make sure we honored the Fire Department. We still wanted to tell that story,” Eric says.
The project also drove foot traffic to a part of downtown that hadn’t seen many visitors, partly because fire trucks had blocked the sidewalk in front of what is now Thundercloud Subs. Now, with a vibrant Art Center and surrounding shops and eateries, “everything is starting to work together,” Eric says. “I see the Art Center as a big part of that.”
The Georgetown Art Center is open to visitors 10am to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday and 1pm-5pm Sunday.