Santa Rosa Life-Saving Station
Vicinity of pensacola, florida
Constructed by the United States Life-Saving Service in 1907 using a prototype plan, the Santa Rosa Life-Saving Station was transferred to the US Coast Guard in 1915. The Coast Guard constructed a garage nearby, and in the 1930s made extensive changes to the station, removing the characterizing lookout tower, reworking the interior plan, adding a shed addition, and replacing the majority of the original interior features. Today, the property is owned by the National Park Service as part of Gulf Islands National Seashore. The building houses law enforcement offices as well as the registration office for the Fort Pickens Campground. The park is seeking to restore the building to its original appearance while adapting it to serve new uses.
JKOA performed an extensive investigation of the Life-Saving Station and the Coast Guard garage to identify remaining early or original features as part of a Restoration Feasibility Study. JKOA’s research, performed concurrently with the physical investigations, uncovered the original prototype plans and specifications, which will prove invaluable to the restoration effort. Despite extensive modifications, the station building retains significant evidence of the original design which, combined with a comparison study of the prototype plan, provides a credible basis for restoration of the building to its original form.
The next phase of work expands the Restoration Feasibility Study to allow targeted removal of portions of modern finishes to gain access to historic elements and confirm conformance of those elements with historic design documents. The JKOA project team includes a materials conservator, who will record historic paint and finishes on early interior and exterior elements, as well as a structural engineer and a mechanical engineer.
Project services
Architecture
Historic preservation
Historic research
Documentation drawings
Condition assessment
Restoration feasibility study
Paint and finishes analysis
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering
Structural engineering
Cost estimating