A fire on Monday (Nov. 4) night destroyed a historic administration building at Knoxville College, an HBCU in Tennessee with a long legacy in education. 

The blaze began around 8:30 p.m. and left the century-old structure completely gutted, with heavy smoke and flames consuming much of the building. Knoxville Assistant Fire Chief Mark Wilbanks confirmed that there were no injuries and that the cause of the fire remains unknown. “This building’s probably in excess of 100 years old. It has completely collapsed and is a total loss,” Wilbanks said, as reported by WBIR.

Knoxville College, founded in 1875, has been a significant institution for the Black community in East Tennessee. However, it lost its accreditation in 1997, leading to a decline in enrollment and financial struggles. By 2015, enrollment dropped to 11 students, prompting the college to suspend in-person classes. Since then, Knoxville College has relied on online courses, resuming them in 2018 to regain accreditation and eventually reopen its campus.

The fire greatly affected Knoxville College’s plans for a full revival. Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon called the event a “sad day for Knoxville,” adding that the college has been “a pillar of the higher education community for Black people in Knoxville and beyond.”