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Our Home
A New Life for
Bay Shore’s First Firehouse
Since its restoration by South Shore Restoration Group Inc in 2000, the Second Avenue Firehouse has become a unique cultural venue, serving its immediate neighborhood as well as the greater Long Island community. The first floor of the building, known as the Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery and Performance Space, is home to art exhibitions, musical performances, workshops, readings and other cultural arts programs. Gallery exhibits feature the work of both emerging and well-established artists. The space is made available for Bay Shore School District and local not-for-profits events. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the winner of two major architectural awards, the fully restored firehouse is one of Bay Shore’s architectural gems.
Mission
The 100-year old Second Avenue Firehouse in Bay Shore, Long Island, is a lot like a cat with nine lives. After serving time as the home of Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1, the building became a synagogue and Hebrew school, then a factory, then a rooming house. By the time it was adopted by the nonprofit South Shore Restoration Group in 1998, the derelict structure was unrecognizable as the Stick Style Victorian it once was. Now the meticulously restored building has been born again – as a gallery and home to an artist-in-residence.