6138-6140 Michigan Avenue
Engine House #22, La Casa de España
By August 1895, plans had already been drawn up for three new firehouses. Each were designed by the firm Mason & Rice and would be located on Gratiot near Baldwin, Lincoln near Piquette, and Michigan near Welch. Of the bunch, the structure on Michigan, pictured here, is the only one to remain standing. At some point, Welch Street was either renamed or ceased to exist.
Engine House #22 at 6138-6140 Michigan Avenue was completed in 1896, initially servicing horse-drawn fire apparatuses. As the neighborhoods grew around the building, it was converted to be compatible with larger gas-powered rigs. The main floor was used for equipment storage, and the upper floor was used as dorms and shared spaces for the firefighters.
Eventually, Detroit’s population began to fall, and there wasn’t tax money for the number of firehouses the city once had. In March 1976, Engine House #22 made the department’s list of expendable fire companies. At the time, DFD planned to close non-essential firehouses to have more people at those that remained open. The article stated that fewer fire halls made it harder to fight fires, but more people on each rig made the work easier. At this point, the 1895 structure had to show signs of its age, and an underfunded department hardly had the money to keep more modern buildings operational.
In April 1976, Engine House #22 was idled for a day due to a lack of firefighters. In 1983, it closed its doors for good. In October, the City of Detroit put it up for sale with a minimum bid of $17,900. Sealed offers had to be submitted by November 30, 1983. It sold—and resold in 1990 for $34,000.
The buyers? Juan and Eva Llobell. They had emigrated from Valencia, Spain, in 1986 with their children. Before purchasing the old firehouse, they operated a Spanish restaurant called Bagley Cafe (3354 Bagley). It was popular, but they dreamed of a larger space where they could have flamenco guitar and dancing on the weekends. At Engine House #22, space wasn’t an issue.
According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, the structure was in utter disrepair when they purchased it. The family did most of the renovation work themselves, and La Casa de España opened in April 1991. Juan had placed 11,622 ceramic tiles behind the stage to create a large map of Spain, which could be seen poking in and out of frame as the musicians and dancers glided across the hand-built stage. Initially, the restaurant was open from 6-11 Tuesday through Saturday. Tapas would run you between $4.75 and $6.50, main dishes anywhere between $11.25 and $18.25, and you could call ahead to get paella for $20. Their hours were eventually expanded to include a lunch menu that featured Spanish-style sandwiches on house-made bread.
Eva did the cooking, and the family lived on the upper floor of the firehouse. The restaurant was trendy and was written up in the Detroit Free Press numerous times. While taking these photographs, I spoke with an old-timer walking down the street for about ten minutes. He told me that good family friends of his used to drive all the way up from Toledo to La Casa de España for a night out.
On November 1, 1997, Juan was involved in a serious car accident. On November 19, he was being transported from Receiving Hospital to Providence Hospital when he passed away. He never gained consciousness between the accident and his death. He was just 43 years old, and his cremated remains were returned to Spain.
Eva continued running the restaurant after the death of her husband. Eventually, the weight of raising five children and keeping it going became too much, and La Casa de España closed.
After that, not much happened at 6140 Michigan. It was heavily scrapped, painted with graffiti, and began to show its age. Around 2010, it was painted red, making it stand out while cruising down Michigan Ave.
While taking these photographs, I noticed that the structure had been re-roofed semi-recently. The old timer I mentioned earlier said he had seen workers hauling debris out to the dumpster over the past few weeks. We chatted about what could be done with the old firehouse and how we wish they took better care of the bike lanes on Michigan Ave—you know, the usual.
I’m not certain what will happen to Engine House #22, but one thing is clear; the current owner is serious about saving it. Regardless of their plans, that’s worthy of some praise. In 2023, the structure will celebrate its 127th birthday.
