A long-shuttered administration building at struggling Knoxville College, a historically Black institution, was destroyed in a fire Monday night, officials said.
There were no injuries in the blaze, which erupted at around 8:30 p.m. ET on the campus in Knoxville, Tennessee, which has had its buildings boarded up to prevent break-ins and fires, Knoxville Assistant Fire Chief Mark Wilbanks said.
“This building’s probably in excess of 100 years old. It has completely collapsed and is a total loss,” Wilbanks said at the scene of the fire, video from NBC affiliate WBIR of Knoxville showed.
The cause of the fire was not known Monday night, he said.
Knoxville College is a small HBCU, or historically Black college or university, founded in 1875.
It lost its national accreditation in 1997 as enrollment slumped. The state allowed it to resume courses in 2018, but they have been online, the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper reported in July, as the college seeks to regain its accreditation.
Buildings on the campus have been boarded up, including the former administration building that burned Monday, and there has been a history of break-ins and fires on campus, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said at the scene.
“It’s just a sad day for our city,” Kincannon said.
Frank Shanklin Jr., a member of Knoxville College’s Board of Trustees, told WBIR that the former administration building has not been used in the last 40 or 50 years.
“We’re going to keep fighting for Knoxville College,” Shanklin said, adding that he hopes the city, the county and people in the region keep it in their prayers. “We’re going to fight to reopen the college back up.”
