A large city-owned building in Carbondale, which caught on fire on Monday, was approved to be demolished last week.
CARBONDALE, IL (WSIL) -- A large city-owned building in Carbondale, which caught on fire on Monday, was approved to be demolished last week.
The former, and vacant, Walnut Street Baptist Church, caught fire Monday morning just before 9:45 a.m. at the corner of W. Walnut Street and S. University Avenue.
Fire crews rushed to the scene as lots of smoke poured out of the large building.
The portion of the building which caught fire was also approved to be demolished during a city council meeting last week.
The Local Liquor Control Commission/City Council meeting was held on January 31st in Carbondale. During that meeting, city members approved a motion 4-2 to approve a contract with McVickers Excavating of Herrin, Illinois in the amount of $264,500 to demolish a portion of the property at 218 W. Walnut Street.
In the meeting, city members said the building was purchased by the city in 2016 and has had some issues, including a portion of the roof was starting to collapse in the Northwest corner.
Fire crews were on scene for hours extinguishing the fire on Monday.
A Carbondale city employee tells us the fire will be under investigation.
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