Update: A church burned in Soulard a week or so after this fire. Its cause was not determined to be suspicious.
Something suspicious is going on in St. Louis, with back to back fires on Friday and Saturday nights over the Memorial Day weekend. The first casualty was the Jamison Memorial Church on Washington Boulevard at North Leffingwell on Friday night.
One of my sources had alerted me to its abandonment several years ago. I last looked at the church back in 2016, first in a post in September, and then again in December when someone demolished the historic house next door.
The fire is suspicious, and is almost certainly arson, based on additional information I have. The fire fighters apparently pulled the pews out to keep them from catching fire more than they had already.
I find it unlikely considering recent temperatures that someone would have started a fire to keep warm.
Alas, this is where we are, and I have a said sense of foreboding that this church will end up being demolished in the end, despite parts of it being around 150 years old.
It has been owned by an LLC with an address in North County since 2019. What their plans for the property is unknown.
This is so sad. As you say, this is where we are, it’s more than an isolated incident. It’s a deterioration on so many levels. Here’s hoping there is someone to step up, some way to reverse the downward trends.
Unfortunately the individual(s) who caused and continue to cause destruction in the city of St. Louis are far too ignorant to understand the significance of what they do. Congratulations, another one bites the dust. You win.
Meanwhile those with the means & desire to preserve and turn a building like this into something great can scratch this one off their list. Probably best though. Any development into an attractive venue in this city is just a invitation for car break ins anymore.
It’s disgusting what this city has become and the criminals it’s chosen to give a voice.