![]() The windows are now glazed, though they were originally left open to facilitate airflow to the training fires. On the first five floors, each face of the building is penetrated by one centered window (excepting the first floor, where the north face instead has the front doorway, and the south face is a solid brick wall). The doors are covered by black cast iron grillwork gates and flanked by a pair of cast iron light fixtures. The entrance faces the street on the north side, with three concrete steps leading up to the arched doorway from street level. Exterior Īt its base, the tower rests on a 4-foot (1.2 m) white concrete plinth. Roy White for the Austin-based Hugo Kuehne architecture firm its construction contractor was local builder Rex D. The tower was designed by local architect J. Built in the style of an Italianate campanile, it features a low- pitched square hip roof and round-arched Romanesque Revival doors and windows. Architecture īuford Tower is a freestanding six-story concrete tower clad with reddish-brown brick with limestone accents, 67 feet (20 m) tall with a 14-foot (4.3 m) square cross-section. The fire department ruled the cause of the fire "incendiary," or intentionally set, pending further investigation. On April 1, 2021, a fire from a nearby homeless camp extended to the tower causing damage. The tower has also become the site of the Austin Firefighters' Association's annual memorial service for first responders who lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks. Today, the bells chime the hours and play Christmas carols during the Christmas season. ![]() The bell system was named the Kitchens Memorial Chimes, after the tower's builder, Rex D. ![]() Buford, the first Austin firefighter to die in the line of duty. After the renovations were completed, on Augthe tower was rededicated as Buford Tower, named after Austin Fire Department Captain James L. Decorative iron grillwork was added to the doors at ground level and to the highest level, where an electronic carillon bell system was installed, transforming the fire drill tower into a working bell tower. These funds allowed the tower's brick facade to be cleaned, its roof repaired, and its windows glazed to keep wildlife out. The campaign raised $45,000, of which Kitchens personally contributed $30,000. In 1978, however, Effie Kitchens (the widow of the tower's original builder) led a public campaign, together with the Austin chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction, to raise funds for the tower's restoration. The tower stood unused and untended for years, and its unglazed windows allowed it to become infested with pigeons eventually the city marked the structure for demolition. Finally, in 1974 the fire department opened a new training tower in southeast Austin, and the original Fire Drill Tower was closed. At the same time, the growth of the city meant that the drill tower, originally built near the southern edge of town, was now crowded by tall modern buildings and heavy traffic, making the training fires a growing hazard to downtown. In the 1960s, snorkel trucks gave the city's firefighters access to higher windows than could be reached with traditional ladders, and the tower's value as a training facility declined. Īs decades passed, firefighting technology advanced, and Austin's buildings grew taller. ![]() It also served as a backdrop for fire department photographs, social events, and public firefighting demonstrations. The tower was built in 1930 at a cost of $6,200 (equivalent to $109,000 in 2022), and it immediately began to be burned and flooded regularly during training exercises and the testing of equipment. On December 26, 1929, City Council authorized construction of a fire drill tower on a parcel of land along the Colorado River downtown, where the river could provide water for testing fire hoses and extinguishing training fires. Buford, the structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2016.Īustin first established a professional fire department in 1916, creating a need for a drill tower where the firefighters could train. ![]() Named after fire department Captain James L. The structure was originally built in 1930 as a drill tower for the Austin Fire Department, but it now serves as a bell tower and landmark. 30☁5′49″N 97☄4′45″W / 30.2636°N 97.7459°W / 30.2636 -97.7459īuford Tower (formerly the Austin Fire Drill Tower) is a tower standing along the north shore of Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas. ![]()
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