Building at struggling HBCU Knoxville College destroyed in fire

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 fire, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. ET at the Knoxville, Tenn., campus, which has had its buildings locked down to prevent burglaries and fires, Knoxville Assistant Fire Chief Mark Wilbanks said.

“This building is probably more than 100 years old. It’s completely collapsed and is a total loss,” Wilbanks said at the fire scene. video from NBC affiliate WBIR in Knoxville showed.

The cause of the fire was not known as of Monday evening, 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 declined. The state allowed it to resume courses in 2018, but they have been online, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported this in Julyas the college seeks to regain its accreditation.

Buildings on campus have been locked down, including the former administration building that burned Monday, and there has been a history of burglaries 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 for the past 40 or 50 years.

“We’re going to keep fighting for Knoxville College,” Shanklin said, adding that he hopes the city, county and people of the region keep it in their prayers. “We will fight to reopen the college again.”