Future uncertain for Topeka's former Van Buren School, damaged by raging blaze on Dec. 3
Recent years have seen more twists and turns than a soap opera for Topeka's former Van Buren School.
Topeka's city government in 2013 declared the three-story, red brick structure at 1601 S.W. Van Buren — which Capital-Journal archives say was built in 1910 — unfit for habitation and ordered it razed.
In 2014, the city revealed the anticipated cost of demolishing the building had risen from $58,900 to $219,000 because of the discovery of asbestos there.
Then-owner Joshua Mattox, of Holton, donated the property to the city in 2016.
Who bought the building and nearby properties for $1?
In 2017, Topeka's mayor and city council voted at a special meeting to sell the building and three nearby properties to Ross Freeman’s Topeka-based Pioneer Group for $1 to be used as part of a planned $10 million project aimed at creating 81 new affordable housing units.
Freeman died at age 81 in 2021.
THA Inc., formerly known as the Topeka Housing Authority, acquired properties that included the former Van Buren School from Pioneer Group as part of a previous partnership, THA executive director Trey George told The Capital-Journal Thursday.
The arrangement called for Pioneer Group, operating as Pioneer Midtown Homes LLC, to serve as the developer, while THA would serve as property manager once the project was complete.
"The plan was then, and still is, to develop the property into an affordable housing development," George said.
That plan formerly involved using federal and state historical tax credits as well as 9% federal housing credits to develop the property, he said.
Former school appears to no longer have a roof
But the project hasn't yet gotten of the ground, and the building was ravaged by fire on Dec. 3.
It appeared this past week to no longer have a roof.
"The plan is now the same," George said. "However, sadly, after the fire that occurred last weekend we are waiting for our insurance company and engineers to determine if the building can be safely salvaged."
If it can, he said, "We would still like to develop an affordable housing development at the site, but the funding will have to change by not utilizing historic credits."
Nearby abandoned church burned down in 2013
The former Van Buren School formerly stood just east of a large, abandoned church building at 1600 S.W. Harrison, which was a magnet for vandals and unsheltered people until it came to a fiery end.
That building was destroyed by a raging, intentionally set blaze in October 2013.
Van Buren was once a 'whites only' school
Capital-Journal archives show the former Van Buren School accommodated only white students before being integrated after the 1954 Board v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.
Those archives say the building was subsequently closed as a school, then used as an annex by Topeka Unified School District 501.
It was then sold to the Topeka Teachers Credit Union before becoming the home of Kansas Surplus Exchange, a nonprofit clearinghouse of office furnishings for charitable organizations.
What happened during the Dec. 3 fire at Van Buren building?
Topeka firefighters responded about 8:30 a.m. Dec. 3 to the building, which was on fire, said Gretchen Spiker, communications director for Topeka's city government.
"Due to concerns about the structural integrity of the building, crews began a defensive attack and were able to keep the fire contained to the building," she said.
After the initial call, Topeka firefighters responded three more times to the building on reports the blaze had rekindled, Spiker said.
The fire's cause remained under investigation and had not been determined, she said.
Spiker asked that anyone with information about the fire call the Topeka Fire Department at 785-368-4000 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka's fire-damaged former Van Buren School faces uncertain future
