DANVILLE, Ill. (WAND) - Restorations continue on the retired Danville Fire Station 2 as Danville Firefighters jump in to help with the makeover. 
 
The Danville Fire Station 2 opened in 1898, but closed in 1963 when the new Station 2 was moved to North Danville. The city of Danville gifted the building to Habitat For Humanity. Habitat renovated the interior of the station as their Habitat Headquarters, but now, they are taking on a new task to keep the historic building in-tact. 
 
"Now I get to relive the past a little bit." says Richard Ervin, a retired firefighter and the Construction Manager for Habitat for Humanity. He's taking the lead on the restoration plan, making sure their exterior brick ground lasts another 123 years. 
 
Eric High, a Danville Firefighter and Fire Historian volunteering on the project, says they are "trying their best to keep the original architecture which is," and mentions how we he feels working on this historic building. "As a historian, that's just great for me to be able to walk through and see some of how things were back then."
 
Habitat alongside firefighters removed the brick floor, which was decaying due to longterm weather damage, and now, they are leveling out the ground around the building. All to re-place the 6,100 bricks back onto the floor surrounding the station. 
 
Jonathan Gibson, Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity, tells WAND the current process on the renovation. "We've removed all of the bricks were digging out the base underneath, and we're going to put it all back together so that it can have the right drainage and still maintain its historic appeal."
 
High says he and his fellow firefighters are loving being a part of the project. "We always like to help out the neighborhood and the community. And it's a little bit extra because it's one of our former fire stations....this station was a horse and buggy fire station when it first opened." High tells WAND News.
 
The motivation behind the renovations all has to do with keeping the history of the building alive, as well as maintaining the structure for future generations. Ervin says, "Every firefighter gets trained on the importance of history, you remember those guys that did stuff to make it better for you."
 
The future the station is to be home for Habitat for Humanity as long as possible.
 
"The future of this building is with Habitat as long as we can, both for our construction side here and for the office space, but our purpose is to maintain its historical nature, as well as we can." Gibson says. 
 
The renovation is set to take a couple weeks. Habitat leaders says the station can eventually become a fire museum for the community to enjoy.Â