A sad day for my town St. Thomas

[dissentowner]

Today we lost our beautiful historical building Alma College.


The building was an all girls school with Alumni spanning around the world. It has appeared in two movies, Disney's Mr. Headmistress and Silent Hill.
The alumni and the community have been battling the Ontario province to preserve the building as a historical landmark as it draws people from all over to come see it but unfortunately a big money tycoon who purchased the property years ago won the initial battle and he was planning to demolish the beautiful building to build a new retirement centre which St. Thomas already has two of and is a town of only 30,000. At city council meetings and other meetings this man has been rude and ignorant and to be straightfoward, he is quite the ***hole! Recently a new petition drive along with protests and a last effort by the Alumni has once again but a hold on the demolition as the province agreed to once again look into keeping the building safe. Today during a protest to save Alma around 12pmEST the building suddenly errupted in fire and I mean it went up like it had been dowsed in gasoline or other flammables, it was fully engulphed in I would estimate a matter of 3-5 minutes. It is a sad day for us here because this building meant alot to many people and our community too. You can read more about Alma and this tragedy in the following links.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008...burns-down.php

Pictures of the fire here:
http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/...+Journal+Staff

[MelBridgeman]

So it just mysteriously burnt down?

[Blaster86]

You can bet this will be investigated.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

So it just mysteriously burnt down?

The believed cause is Arson however I have no idea if anyone has been caught yet. Everyone here finds it suspicious that there is a big meeting today in Toronto between the alumni and the Government, a protest was held outside the building today, and a large petition has been circulating the town and everyone has been signing it because this town loved that building and it suddenly catches fire for no reason? I will update as more details become available. Thanks for the interest, I know it has nothing to do with Calgary but I love historical buildings and this was a true beauty not to mention it is in my town.

[Boblobla]

Silent hill was filmed there? Neat.

That sucks it burned down, those are some good pics of the fire though.

[onetwo_threefour]

Hey, my mom lives there, and I spent a couple of years there in my pre-teens. It's a shame that the old buildings in Ontario aren't always preserved as well as they should be.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Oh man, that sucks. They just don't make them like that anymore, what a terrible building to lose. As if this doesn't reek of Aarson for sure.

[4X4]

It it proves to be arson, I hope your town (and everyone in the surrounding area) boycott whatever is built there.

[Titan]

Wouldn't it be ironic if when the new building by the "developer" is almost ready it were to meet a similar fate? Over and over? How ironic would that be? Just sayin'.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by 4X4

It it proves to be arson, I hope your town (and everyone in the surrounding area) boycott whatever is built there.

Man 4x4 you are getting soft. Boycott? I would have pegged your reactiona as a little more, how shall I put this, reactionary.

[4X4]

Like yours? Lol... Good one. I'm kinda in agreement with you.

[Dan02]

If it was arson they should make the developer rebuild it,

[Displaced Flames fan]

That is nauseating. Sorry for your loss.

[burn_this_city]

I remember seeing that building last time I was in St. Thomas... Too bad, it was definately worthy of heritage status. Now its just a snazzy new avatar..

[Hack&Lube]

how old is this building?

It's kinda of funny all the things that we try to get heritage status for here in Canada but if you think about it, most of them are under 100 years old and by European standards...don't have any heritage at all.

[The Ditch]

That building is quite aesthetically pleasing, it's a shame that someone wanted to bulldoze it. Too bad in the end.

[foofighter15]

i am very sorry that this happened. but those pictures are amazing

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Too bad, it was definately worthy of heritage status. Now its just a snazzy new avatar..

lol

[Hack&Lube]

Wow, that fire would have been great for silent hill :P

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

how old is this building?

It's kinda of funny all the things that we try to get heritage status for here in Canada but if you think about it, most of them are under 100 years old and by European standards...don't have any heritage at all.

Since when does less than 100 years = no heritage? By that logic the buildings in Europe don't have any heritage by Egyptian Pyramid standards.

Heritage is all relative.