Sacramento's historic fire dispatch station to reopen as contemporary art exhibit

A long-vacant Sacramento fire alarm dispatch station will reopen to the public as a contemporary art exhibition featuring nearly 30 local artists.

"Coordinates: Dispatch" will transform the former Albert Winn Fire Alarm Dispatch Station through sculpture, painting, sound, video and live performances.

The exhibition runs from Aug. 8 through Oct. 10 and marks one of the first major public uses of the restored Art Deco landmark in more than a decade.

Built in 1937, the station coordinated emergency responses in Sacramento for decades before advances in communications technology made the facility obsolete. The building later closed and remained vacant for more than 10 years.

Sites of Vacancy, the Midtown Association and the city of Sacramento partnered to revitalize the 3,291-square-foot building and return it to public use.

"Buildings outlive the purposes for which they were designed, but they continue to shape the communities around them," curator Faith J. McKinnie said. 

McKinnie said the exhibition is intended to bring people together while connecting Sacramento's history with contemporary art.

Coordinates: Dispatch is located inside Winn Park. The exhibition will be open from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays.