On Oct. 19, the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District closed on 2330 Lillie Ave., the building that housed Summerland Winery. Noozhawk reported a price of $5.3 million. Fire Station 62 will move there from 2375 Lillie Ave., a couple of blocks away. That ends a search the district has been working on for more than 20 years.
Two kinds of public space on Lillie Avenue are changing hands with the station. The former winery is planned to include a meeting room for local groups, the kind of regular gathering place the fire chief says the town needs. And the small park beside the old station holds a county-landmark World War I monument. It now sits on a property the district intends to sell, and its future is still open.
A station that was built as a market
The current station is more than 100 years old and wasn't designed for fire engines. Coastal View News reports that it started as a market, later held emergency facilities and then became the fire station. One of the paper's archival photos, from around 1961, shows the station sharing a building with Sharkey's Market. Crews have spent decades working around that history. The same report says the department has modified fire trucks and equipment so they fit the building. The firefighters who live there also deal with traffic noise from Highway 101 right next door.
Fire Chief Dan Stefano didn't soften it when he spoke to Noozhawk. "There have been a lot of bandaids," he said, adding that "at one point in time… that station was rated as the second worst in all of California." The highway also kept the district from expanding on its current site.
It took two decades to find a replacement partly because of Summerland's geography. In the district's announcement on Independent.com, board president and Summerland resident Suzy Cawthon said "finding land that could clear our unique geographic challenges, like local fault lines, required over two decades of hard work and refusal to give up." Another option was considered along the way. Stefano told Noozhawk the district once looked at a joint station with Montecito Fire on the former QAD site, and that idea faded after the University of California bought the property.
A winery building with a home already upstairs
2330 Lillie was a fairly practical choice. It is a mixed-use building with commercial space downstairs and a residence upstairs, and the upstairs was most recently an Airbnb, according to Stefano. It housed several businesses over the years, including Summerland Winery, which Noozhawk reported closed last year. The plan splits the building the same way it is already used. Firefighters will live upstairs, and offices, a training room and support spaces will go downstairs.
The district plans to retrofit the building rather than tear it down, and to keep what Coastal View News called its "distinctive facade and architectural character." Stefano told Noozhawk the work is estimated at $6 million to $8 million. He said that is "considerably less" than demolishing a building and starting over.
| Current station, 2375 Lillie | Planned station, 2330 Lillie | |
|---|---|---|
| Original use | A market, later converted | Mixed-use: commercial below, residential above |
| Crew quarters | Dormitory-style, one shared bathroom | Private sleeping rooms and bathrooms |
| Highway noise | Tight against Highway 101 | Farther from the freeway |
| Extras | Equipment modified to fit the building | Gym, added storage, gear stored apart from living quarters |
| Neighbors at night | Freeway-side setting | Added soundproofing and modern alerting systems to reduce nighttime noise |
The last row matters most to people on the block. The station is moving away from the freeway and closer to homes and storefronts. Coastal View News reports that the soundproofing and alerting systems are being designed partly to keep nighttime calls quieter for neighbors.
The room Summerland gets
The part of the plan that matters most to residents is downstairs. Coastal View News reports that Stefano sees a real need for a regular community gathering place in Summerland. The lower level is planned to include a training room shared with groups such as the Summerland Citizens Association and Summerland Beautiful. Speaking to Noozhawk, he described it as a room for community groups that don't have anywhere else to meet.
"When we look at this structure, we want it to be accessible and viable for the community," Stefano told Coastal View News.
Both groups have already been part of the station story. The Summerland Citizens Association hosted the Oct. 20 town hall where Stefano and Cawthon announced the purchase, the evening after escrow closed. Summerland Beautiful runs the recurring Pick Up Posse cleanups and donated a new trash receptacle to the park next to the current station.
Putting a working station in the middle of the downtown block also raises a question every Lillie Avenue regular will think of. "We understand that the downtown area and parking are sensitive, and we are going to work with the county and the community on what's best for parking," Stefano told Coastal View News.
The corner that stays open
The old station isn't only a building. It shares its lot with Memorial Park, a small green space whose main feature is Santa Barbara County Landmark No. 35. The county's landmark record calls it the World War I Monument, also known as "Lest We Forget." It is a concrete pedestal about 6 feet by 5 feet with a wooden cross, and it honors Summerland men who served and died in the war. Their names are on two sides, and the back is blank. The raised lettering reads:
"To the loyalty of those who joined the colors from here served their country for the cause of humanity and liberty, Dedicated September 21, 1918."
The monument has been moved once before. It originally stood between Highway 101 and the railroad tracks near Lookout Park. The county designated it a landmark on Feb. 21, 1995, and the record lists the County of Santa Barbara as the monument's owner.
The park has also picked up newer uses. A free public bike-repair station with a lift, tools and an air pump was installed there as an Eagle Scout project from Carpinteria Troop 50. Its sponsors were Carpinteria Valley Lumber, the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Department and the Santa Barbara South Coast Firefighter Foundation, according to a Coastal View News column.
This is where the move raises a question. The district plans to sell the current station property to help pay for construction, following the legal requirements for selling public property. Stefano told Noozhawk the district is working through options with its legal team and that being a public facility limits what can be done with the building. When Coastal View News asked whether the district might split the lot and keep Memorial Park for community use, Stefano said the board could decide to do that. "I think anything and everything is on the table," he added.
The calendar from here
Stefano's target, as he told Noozhawk, is a working station within two years from December. Coastal View News laid out the sequence:
- Oct. 19, 2026: The district completed the purchase of 2330 Lillie Ave.
- Oct. 20, 2026: The purchase was announced at the Summerland Citizens Association town hall.
- Roughly the first year: Permitting, environmental review and design with Santa Barbara County. Public input is planned once conceptual plans are drawn, through board meetings, community meetings and possibly a dedicated email address or website.
- Roughly the second year: Construction.
- Throughout: Emergency response continues without interruption, since the new site is just up the street.
Station 62 is one of two permanent stations in a district founded in 1934. The district covers more than 40 square miles and answers about 4,000 calls a year. Stefano told Coastal View News the district is also looking ahead to a possible third station on its Via Real property.
Residents who want a say on the design, parking or Memorial Park can follow the board through the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District or call the district's administrative office at (805) 684-4591. The next community gathering on the calendar is Summerland Beautiful's annual holiday fundraising party on Friday, Dec. 4, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The location will be announced.
Changes to a single downtown block can change how a small town like Summerland feels to live in, and our team follows them closely. If you have a question about what the station move means for your corner of Summerland, Andrea O'Loughlin is glad to talk it through. Schedule a 15‑minute consultation.
