American LaFrance (ALF) celebrates its 175th anniversary this month with the opening of its new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Summerville, S.C. The company has endured some turbulent years, during which frequent changes in ownership seemed to jeopardize its future, but it maintained a standard of high quality throughout and has emerged in a strong position. Now owned by Patriarch Partners LLC, ALF’s unofficial celebration began in April, when it opened a first-class fire museum in conjunction with the North Charleston (S.C.) Fire Department in North Charleston. And the celebration continues with the completion of its new headquarters and manufacturing center in Summerville.
ALF approached the city of North Charleston several years ago with the idea of creating a museum and fire prevention educational center. At the time, the company was relocating a few miles outside the city and had stored in their Cleveland, N.C., warehouse a stock of 18 antique fire apparatus built from 1857-1969, valued at $3.5?-5.5 million. The apparatus collection spanned ALF’s storied past, something they sought to showcase.
A former railroad warehouse was selected as the museum site. The 27,000-square-foot building was gutted and renovated to evoke an old firehouse. The city created a special tax district to raise approximately $6 million to complete the facility.
In addition to the ALF collection, the museum features various interactive displays, a collection of fire helmets, equipment, insurance fire marks, a vintage dispatch center, a home exit drill display and other displays and exhibits promoting fire prevention education. Display areas are designed so all the apparatus can be brought outside once a year and actually driven to ensure they remain in good working order.
Although the museum plays a big part in the celebration of ALF’s history, the opening of the new ALF headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Summerville this month looks resolutely to the future. The culmination of much hard work from factory employees and management, the site offers a complete, custom-built operations center-a first since the company’s 150th anniversary.
The buildings will feature a 440,000-square-foot state-of-the-art custom fire and vocational products manufacturing and assembly plant; a 57,000-square-foot headquarters; a vehicle test track; a pump test facility; and a retail store.
ALF’s motto from the 1960s and 70s-“The standard of excellence”-is alive and well, and enjoys a bright future in South Carolina.
I would like to thank Karen Haun, Anna Lonon and Steve Rudnicki of American LaFrance for help in the research of this article.
