Areafishes ongoing after historic Clayborn Temple of Fire Guts and stopped $ 25 million restoration -efforts

A fire that caused considerable damage to a historic black church in Memphis, Tennessee – once the organizing hub for the strike of the sanitation of 1968 that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. The city went to the city – was deliberately established, researchers confirmed on 21 May on May 21. The fire at Clayborn Temple Med Work completed in a renovation effort that had been going on for years.

The Memphis Fire Department stated The Clayborn Temple Blaze handed the interior of the church and researchers are currently looking for a person who is suspected of being involved in starting the fire.

In the early morning hours of 28 April, flames tore through the historic Memphis church in the city center and had the interior completely destroyed.

Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat reported later that day that although the inside of the building was probably a total loss because of the flames, some parts of the outside facade can still save for recovery.

A few weeks after the first fire in the Clayborn temple, the Memphis fire brigade announced that the structure had been stabilized, so that researchers can conduct a more thorough investigation to determine the true cause of the fire.

The investigation ultimately led to the suspicion that the fire was intentionally established.

Executive director of the historic Clayborn Temple, Anasa Troutman, issued a statement about the impact of the fire on 21 May.

Troutman said: “Clayborn Temple is holy ground – the home of generations of struggle, resilience and creativity. This act of violence is painful, but it will not break our mind.”

Before the fire, the historic church in the middle of a restoration of $ 25 million was aimed at preserving the Romanesque revival architecture and a rich cultural legacy. Plans include repairing a huge 3000-pipe large organ and changing the site into a hub for revitalization of the neighborhood, with a museum, cultural programming and community initiatives.

Clayborn Temple is located just south of the iconic Civil Rights Beale Street and was built in 1892 as the Second Presbyterian Church. After it was sold in 1949, it became a pillar for black municipalities.

It later brought civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1968 to Memphis. King supported more than 1,000 black sanitary employees who went on strike to protest against the inhuman treatment they received while exposed to unsafe working conditions.

The Clayborn temple was the home of nocturnal meetings at the height of the strike, making the recognizable “I am a man” posters of the movement and became a station during the Marsen.

Clayborn Temple was mentioned in 1979 in the National Register of Historic Places.

After the murder of King and the conclusion of the Memphis workers’ strike, the church fell into disuse and was emptied until the recent renovation efforts began to restore it to its former state.

Before the recent fire, around $ 8 million had been deposited in Clayborn temple for renovations, and although the interior was still a work in performance, the outside was completely restored, according to Troutman.

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