Atlanta firefighters battle second fire at historic building

Lexi Boulanger

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

(TNS)

A former dormitory at Morris Brown College caught fire Thursday morning, officials said, the second time in the last 16 months that a fire has ravaged the historic building.

Crews arrived just before 8 a.m. and used a defensive attack to extinguish the fire at the building, formerly Gaines Hall, located just off Northside Drive at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to Atlanta Fire Rescue.

No injuries were reported. The causes of the fire are currently unknown, pending an investigation, authorities said.

In 2015, a double-alarm fire caused damage to the building. A second fire in February 2023 then caused significant damage. Following the premiere, investigators said the building needed to be demolished, but it has sat empty since then, according to Channel 2 Action News.

Part of the Atlanta University Center Historic District, the building was constructed in 1869 and designed by William Parkins, according to the Atlanta Preservation Center. After a 2017 court ruling, the university changed hands from Morris Brown to Clark Atlanta University.

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