A fire ripped through a historic abandoned high school in Indiana on Saturday night, sparking reactions from former students on social media.
The Gary Fire Department shared images of flames tearing through the former Ralph Waldo Emerson High School on Facebook. The department was assisted by firefighters from Merrillville and Munster.
“This is so sad. I am forever [an] Emersonian,” one woman wrote in response.
“He is gone, but your memories will live forever in our hearts. Class of 71,” another alumnus wrote.
The school was the first high school built in Gary, Indiana, according to Ball State University.
It was built in 1909 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995.
Some say the building sat empty for too long after it closed in 2008.
“Okay, time to tear it down, don’t leave it sitting there abandoned and now burning for another 25 years,” one man wrote in response to the fire department’s post.
“They should have let it melt… it’s about time,” said another.
A fire ripped through the abandoned Ralph Waldo Emerson High School in Gary, Indiana, on December 9, 2023. Gary Fire Department The building has been vacant since the school closed in 2008. Gary Fire Department
The building had reportedly suffered vandalism and even crime over the years.
The body of a 17-year-old Chicago girl was found strangled at the former high school in the 700 block of East 7th Avenue in 2015, ABC Chicago reported.
The Gary Fire Department told the television station that the fire was extinguished around 3:45 a.m. Sunday and a major collapse of the building occurred.
The school has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. Gary Fire Department
Arson investigators are investigating the cause of the fire. A similar fire reportedly devastated the building months ago. No injuries were reported.
A spokeswoman for the Gary Community School Corporation says the district no longer owns Emerson.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn