THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180284
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
More than 70 years of school-day memories went up in smoke late Monday afternoon when the old Norview High building on Sewells Point Road caught fire and burned only weeks before it was to be torn down.
Fire and school authorities suspect arson but won't know for sure until investigators are able to enter the building today.
``We always talked about burning it down,'' joked one onlooker who attended school at the building in the 1970s. ``Now it looks like somebody did it.''
The building, constructed in 1923, had been used as a junior high school or middle school since 1955. It was officially closed only a month ago, at the end of the 1994-1995 school year, said George Raiss, spokesman for the school district. Since then it has been a target of vandals.
``After the close of school we had at least four or five incidents,'' Raiss said. ``A fire or two, broken windows, punched-in doors, that sort of thing.''
Raiss said demolition of the building was imminent. Fence posts had already been erected to close off the site.
Some school materials may have been left in the building, Raiss said, but just what and how much won't be known until the burned section can be checked today.
``The building had been partially cleared,'' Raiss said. ``But the entire school had not been dismantled. I have no way of knowing tonight what books were left in there. . . . We have suffered some loss.''
Raiss said he thinks some sections of the building - which is irregularly shaped and has several annex-type projections - might have been spared.
Firefighters were called to the scene about 5:45 p.m. They made no attempt to enter the building and cautiously surrounded the fire to prevent the blaze from spreading to a nearby residential area. They also successfully protected the new Norview Middle School building, which is just behind the old building and will soon be completed.
``That was our main objective - to keep the fire from spreading to the new building,'' said Assistant Fire Chief Tom Parker.
Parker said firefighters were used in shifts to prevent exhaustion in the extreme July heat. No injuries were reported early Monday evening, he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Christopher Reddick
ABOVE: Norfolk firefighters take a breather on a rescue van before
going back to fight the fire at Norview Middle School.
Color staff photo by Vicki Cronis
LEFT: Firefighter Sam Jones, left, tries to pull hose near the rear
of the school with the help of fellow firefighters.
Staff map
Area shown
Norview Middle school
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOLS FIRE ARSON by CNB