VIDEO: A retired Little Rock fire captain is working to preserve history in the East Village area of the city.
It was one of three fire stations built by the city in the 1929 bond issue. Over time, the entire community started to lose the once upbeat personality it had as businesses and residents moved out.
"This was the center of the neighborhood. If you got hurt, you came to the fire station. The firemen would either fix you up or they would call an ambulance. The police hung out here. They didn't have any two-way radios, so the police would get their calls through the fire station to go check on a problem somewhere. Neighborhood kids played in the big yard on both sides," said Bob Franklin, Chairman of the Arkansas Firefighter Museum and Education Center.
Franklin said the East Village area thrived until the fire station became vacant in 1963.