Vacant Historic Fla. School Destroyed by Fire

Jan. 16--After multiple fires, 40 years of vacancy, vagrants and vandals, a Jacksonville historic landmark may have suffered mortal wounds Sunday night as a fire ripped through the Annie Lytle Elementary School at 1011 Gilmore St.

The stately old structure with the white doric columns, long hemmed in by Interstate 95, stood in almost stubborn defiance to the modern world that seemed to have passed it by.

Slideshow: Historic photos of Annie Lytle school

But after Sunday night's blaze, its future may lie in ashes.

Firefighters were dispatched to the fire at 11:20 p.m. Sunday and arrived to find heavy smoke and fire showing through the roof, according to District Chief Jack Griggs of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

"It's about 90 percent damaged," Griggs said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said. State fire marshals were called to the scene.

This fire is just the latest in the school's history. In 1995 the structure suffered a two-alarm blaze that was believed to have been set by vandals. It was followed two months later by another fire when garbage was ignited.

The school began as a simple framed structure in 1891, known as Public School No. Four, and was converted to the large brick building known today in 1918. It was built by one of the many architects attracted to Jacksonville after the Great Fire of 1901, Rutledge Holmes.

April 22, 1986: Old school awaits its final destiny (opens on scribd.com)

Over the years, the school raised both the eyes and the ire of residents and developers with some pushing to tear it down and others hoping to save it.

The building was condemned in 1971. But in 1981 it was bought by the Ida M. Stevens Foundation in the hopes of converting the school into condominiums for people 55 and older as it had with the old Duval High School.

But as the years progressed, government subsidies dried up, and plan after plan fell through.

It was designated an historic landmark by the Jacksonville City Council in 2000. But in 2006 the council's Land Use and Zoning Committee voted to let a developer demolish the building with the consent of Doug Milne, the chairman of the Ida M. Stevens Foundation.

However, after fierce opposition developed, the measure was never brought up for a vote.

Some Jacksonville residents accused the owners of "demolition by neglect," knowing it would one day reach a point where it could no longer be saved.

[email protected], (904) 359-4207