Fire damages buildings in historic 18th & Vine Jazz District

Fire hollowed out a two-story brick building in the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District early Thursday morning. Kansas City fire fighters put out the blaze, which jumped a vacant lot and damaged a second empty structure.

The fire started at 1816 Vine Street, the former Security Loan and Investment Association, a black-owned bank that went into receivership in 1929. The building was vacant. A Kansas City Fire Department official told Fox 4 WDAF-TV the blaze likely began as a warming fire set by an indigent person. A woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The fire spread to the former Roberts building at 1820 Vine, which is on the city’s list of dangerous buildings. The Roberts building stands next to what remains of the Eblon Theater, where Count Basie performed when it was known as the Cherry Blossom Club. The theater’s auditorium was destroyed in a fire in 1984. Only the facade remains.

The properties figure into the City of Kansas City, Missouri’s plans for 18th and Vine. The city announced last year that it will redevelop the 1800 block of Vine, keeping the historic facades in place. The city’s Twitter account suggested the fire was not a major setback.

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