English: Hook & Ladder Firehouse No. 2, 788 Payne Avenue at Walck Road, North Tonawanda, New York, February 2022. Built in 1947 as one of the earliest commissions of the Buffalo-based architectural practice of Shelgren & Whitman, the simplified and Modernized take on the Colonial Revival is an aesthetic that was typical of the era's small-scale civic and institutional buildings. Note the shallow pitch of the roof, the symmetrical façade framed by brick quoins, and especially the square open-arched cupola with its curved copper roof, all typical of the style. Calls for construction of a new firehouse in the Walck Road area date back to January 1946, when, in the wake of the just-ended Second World War, city fire chief Fred Knight cited the "tremendous current and projected boom in industrial and private residential building" as a rationale for proposing to the city council the use of Postwar Construction Fund money to build a new, modern fire hall that would centralize firefighting operations for the northern part of the city, and most notably would house a new hook-and-ladder truck as a replacement for the outdated vehicle then being used by the city. The proposal was enthusiastically endorsed by city officials, who earmarked funds in that year's budget for the purpose. Shelgren & Whitman's final plans were approved by the council in February of the following year, followed by groundbreaking in April by the Haugaard Construction Company. Construction cost $33,000 and was completed in eight months.