VICTORY FIREHOUSE

BRIEF HISTORY

In 1926, the City of Bethlehem built the Victory Firehouse to serve the citizens of the southside of Bethlehem. In 1941, Bethlehem Steel purchased the Victory Firehouse from the city and for the next 57 years, it served as Bethlehem Steel’s #1 firehouse. As the fortunes of Bethlehem Steel declined, the building was sold in 1998 to a private investor. In 2006, Mike Gausling purchased the Victory Firehouse. At that time, the Victory Firehouse was 80 years old and showing its age. A real geezer!

In 2007, whereas most developers would have torn down the decrepit old building, Mike chose to radically upgrade and expand the building footprint and to completely reconfigure the interior while retaining an eclectic but powerful tribute to the history of the firehouse itself. At that time, Mike was excited to take a leadership role in helping to reinvent the southside of Bethlehem’s post steel era.  The only downside was that to this day, Mike laments that this was the most financially irresponsible investment that he knowingly made. He says that with a big proud smile on his face!

Today, tenants in the Victory Firehouse include an early stage venture capital fund, a family office and a medical device start-up.