The building at 941–955

Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...

in the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

district of Boston, Massachusetts was designed by

Arthur H. Vinal Arthur H. Vinal (July 1, 1855 – August 25, 1923) was an American architect who lived and worked in Boston, Massachusetts. Vinal was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1855, to Howard Vinal and Clarissa J. Wentworth. Vinal apprenticed at ...

in 1886, while he was City Architect, as the city's first combined fire and police station. The building, constructed in 1887, is in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

style, as was Vinal's most notable other work, the

Chestnut Hill Water Works The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate climate, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nut (fruit), nut ...

pumping station, built at about the same time. It has been designated a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission. The fire station at 941 Boylston, which is still active, houses

Boston Fire Department The Boston Fire Department provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It also responds to such incidents as motor vehicle accidents, hazardous material spills, utility mishaps, ...

Engine Company 33 and Ladder Company 15. The police station, 955 Boylston, was home to

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1854, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. The ...

Division 16 until 1976. From 1976 to 2007, the police station was home to the Institute of Contemporary Art; in 2007 it was acquired by

Boston Architectural College Boston Architectural College, also known as The BAC, is New England's largest private college of spatial design. It offers first-professional bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and n ...

for $7.22 million. A courtyard between the two buildings originally led to shared stables for fire department and police horses. Division 16 would later add a single-story building immediately to the westThe street address of this building, which now houses a restaurant, is also 955 Boylston Street according to phone directory listings. (out of frame in the photo above). By 1976, the advent of motorized patrols had led to a consolidation of Boston's smaller police divisions, including division 16, into larger police districts, resulting in the closure and redevelopment of the police station. Plaques on the Boylston St. facade memorialize four Boston firefighters who died in the line of duty: Cornelius J. Noonan (d. 1938), Richard F. Concannon (d. 1961), Richard B. Magee (d. 1972), and Stephen F. Minehan (d. 1994).

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{{DEFAULTSORT:941-955 Boylston Street Government buildings in Boston Fire stations completed in 1887 Fire stations in Massachusetts Government buildings completed in 1887 Landmarks in Back Bay, Boston Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts 1887 establishments in Massachusetts