Members of Longview’s Historic Preservation Commission took a tour Tuesday of the former fire station No. 3 to become better acquainted with the city’s properties of historical value in the city that might be eligible for local designation.

The station was built in 1936 near the corner of Mobberly Avenue and Young Street.

“This place sure could use some sprucing up,” said commission council liaison Ed Moore.

Despite being out of use since the late 1990s, Fire Marshal Johnny Zackary said the structural integrity of the former station is largely intact.

“It’s certainly seen better days, but it’s still in pretty good shape, especially considering that it hasn’t had much upkeep in recent years,” he said. “(The station) really is a neat old building with a lot of character.”

Zackary said in the early days, the station captain and his family lived upstairs while the crew bunked on the ground floor.

“All three of those first stations were designed as ‘live-in’ stations,” he said.

A city bond package in the mid-1930s that funded the station also helped establish the Central and Nugget Hill fire stations.

Fire station No. 3 was in operation until 1987, when a new No. 3 station was built near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Birdsong Street in South Longview.

“When the station was relocated, EMS section chief and training personnel was housed in this building, with the billing and medical supplies,” he said. “That stopped in the mid-1990s, when the police area representative was based here for awhile. Not long after, the city stopped using it altogether.”

Since then, the only occupant has been “Luke,” the purported ghost of a long-deceased firefighter who was said to walk the stairs late at night, causing mischief and giving LFD veterans something to rib rookies about.

Zackary said Luther “Luke” Waldrop died at 1:30 a.m. Jan. 19, 1940, while receiving a phone call about a fire.

“The story goes that he had a heart attack while he was on the phone,” he said. “I don’t know when the stories about his ghost haunting the station started, but it’s something that generations of Longview firefighters have heard about.”

City staff liaison Angela Choy said the station features red brick and high gables that complement the Idylwood neighborhood near the corner of Mobberly and Young.