EAST ST. LOUIS, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - An historic building in East St. Louis goes up in flames. Fire broke out at the
old Clark Middle School Wednesday afternoon- fire crews from both sides of the river spent hours on the scene. The East St.
Louis Fire Department had three out of its four trucks fighting the fire on State Street. Three additional engines and a ladder
truck from the St. Louis Fire Department were also called in to help. The massive blaze at the school broke out around five
Wednesday afternoon. Heavy smoke billowed from the building- you could see flames shooting up as well.
People who used
to go to the school could only watch as part of their childhood burned. "That's just a lot of nostalgia, the memories are
gone now. It's just something that was a history here- a long time history. Really and truly, it's just an emotional thing,"
said Paralee Stewart. "My best teachers were in this school. We had fun," added Perchelle McKinney. Memories weren't the only
thing lost in the fire.
Opportunity may have been jeopardized as well. East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks says the school
closed after the 2006-2007 school year. We're told the building was sold and there were plans to use stimulus dollars to build
housing inside it.
"It was going to be apartments. And with those apartments, they were going to take the existing
Clark Junior High School and turn those in to some quality apartments right here in the central part of the city," explained
Mayor Parks.
Parks said the building has been vacant ever since the school closed. Fire officials suspect the blaze
started in what was the gym. The fire was tough to fight because of what was still inside the former school. East St. Louis
fire Chief William Fennoy said, "We had a lot of bleachers in there, a heavy wood floor. There are also desks, papers and
other remains from when the school was in operation." Many people believe some kind of new construction can still be built
at the site even with the fire.
"I hope that they are able to tear it down and build something new," said McKinney.
Mayor
Parks says the building had been there for some 80 years. Fire officials tell us there have been a couple of fires at the
school since it closed but nothing as serious as this blaze. A cause for the fire isn't known yet.
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