I don't have time to post the picture (or try to figure out how to do them again) right now but our inspector just sent us photos of a fire in the rear of a little bungalow at 1715 Ionia Street. It seems limited to the rear and mostly minimal (in my opinion) but isn't this where or near where all the other Ionia Street fires have been lately?
it is quite near, and if it's the place ov which i'm thinking (it almost has to be, from that address), the fire did more damage than the photos show
likely owned by the same person, too.
If you would like to email the photos we can post them for you: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/contact
Quote from: Lunican on August 10, 2010, 02:29:19 PM
If you would like to email the photos we can post them for you: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/contact
Lunican, I just sent them.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/965293393_iWT95-L.jpg)
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/965293080_eHqvT-L.jpg)
The addition for the kitchen on the back is dead, the fire did burn through the house to the front, but not sure it hurt the actual structure in the main part of the house.
Quote from: HPC_Autumn on August 10, 2010, 02:39:31 PM
Quote from: Lunican on August 10, 2010, 02:29:19 PM
If you would like to email the photos we can post them for you: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/contact
Lunican, I just sent them.
Is the old grocery store still on Iona Street?? The apartment above it was haunted.
Quote from: Paisleyparker330 on August 10, 2010, 03:30:48 PM
Is the old grocery store still on Iona Street?? The apartment above it was haunted.
Do you have details regarding the haunting? We are collecting stories for the Haunted Springfield event....
That's the house that burned a couple of weeks ago in the middle of the night... Did it burn again today???
It did not Soxfan-I am sure it has come up for HPC reveiw as there is a demo sign on it.
Since there was a fire, code enforcement can do an emergency demolition and I don't believe they need HPC approval.
This is not a structure that can be mothballed? I mean its obvious that fire damage is extensive, but can it be saved.. The structure looks pretty straight.
Well it did not catch fire again. And that is another rule we should look into, a fire does not mean a total loss anymore than a car wreck means you get a new car :-)
We have actually not received anything about demolition regarding this property as of 2.30pm this afternoon (thats when I left the office for the day). Our Inspector keeps us abreast of fires he encounters for our general information. I had not realized it occurred a couple of weeks ago I thought it had happened in the past few days.
Unless the power was still on, it should not be IMHO, then there is an arsonist running around! Maybe the neighborhood should look outside more than they do or maybe form a neighborhood watch of some kind! There might be a pattern with all of these fires taking place and JSO might want to be a little more vigilant then they have been?
good point. In a city thats supposedly hard-pressed for money, we should be saving these places for a while , rather than the expense of demoing them and hauling them off.. The house does not look THAT bad.
When I first started looking at houses in Springfield, I soon learned not to ask "has there been a fire" but "how many fires has it had?" There aren't many of these old girls who haven't had a scorch or two. I haven't seen the inside of this one, but just 'cause the addition burned off doesn't mean it can't be saved. Hey, the satellite dish is still intact! ;D
It would be interesting to learn what caused this since there seems to be an occurence of this pretty frequently .
Do you have details regarding the haunting? We are collecting stories for the Haunted Springfield event....
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Yeah, I used to live there with my Mom and step-Dad. Who is we? Send me the info and I'll be happy to fill you in.
It used to be that one could "buy" a fire quite cheaply in Springfield.
Quote from: sheclown on August 10, 2010, 09:54:42 PM
It used to be that one could "buy" a fire quite cheaply in Springfield.
Sheclown, do tell!
Original tin roof - way too cool.
I went in this house the day after the fire. It's savable. The back addition is a loss. This fire was arson I understand. This block and the corner of Ionia/7th has been razed by arson. This particular house was a rental, owner has lost 3 homes to arson. Hmmmm.
Paisley:
which Ionia store? So much of Ionia has been lost. What is the address?
There was a pool hall in the building on 6th/Ionia.
Quote from: iloveionia on August 11, 2010, 12:27:21 AM
I went in this house the day after the fire. It's savable. The back addition is a loss. This fire was arson I understand. This block and the corner of Ionia/7th has been razed by arson. This particular house was a rental, owner has lost 3 homes to arson. Hmmmm.
VERY strange. What is the chances of that without foul play?
Timkin I think JSO has made an arrest?
God, I hope they made an arrest! 3 fires on properties owned by the same person that are adjacent to each other! I can't believe the city is spending money demo-ing homes instead of investigating stuff like this!
Can anyone confirm that there has been an arrest?
There was. But word on the street is they got the wrong guy.
Quote from: iloveionia on August 11, 2010, 12:29:11 AM
Paisley:
which Ionia store? So much of Ionia has been lost. What is the address?
There was a pool hall in the building on 6th/Ionia.
Yep, that was it! They also sold other little things like soda pop and snacks. Do you know much about it?? The address was/is 1555 Ionia on the corner of 6th street. What year was that do you recall??
It is boarded up and empty now, but how cool to have the pool hall/store back! So let's here the ghost story!
Quote from: uptowngirl on August 11, 2010, 11:37:38 AM
It is boarded up and empty now, but how cool to have the pool hall/store back! So let's here the ghost story!
I knew as soon as I saw the place on Goggle Maps search last night that we had found the right place, I got a really creepy feeling just looking at it.
I lived there in the mid 70's (74-75), I was about 9-10 years old. On the first floor there was a neighborhood grocery store that had a pool table and a jukebox. The second floor was an apartment where my family and I lived. The window would not open and I don't recall there being a "reason" for this and since the windows wouldn't open the place was always hot. I recall my Mom and I taking a lot of showers to keep cool.
As you walked into the main door there was a long staircase that lead up to the landing which was a huge open space. We had a daybed in that area which I slept on two or three times. I think I slept there because it was cooler then my bedroom. When I did sleep there I would be awakened by the front door slamming and footsteps coming up the staircase. The footsteps were heavy and slow and would stop at the top. After a few seconds it would start all over again. This would happen at at least 2-3 times. I don't recall if I would just get up, which I doubt I did since I was scared speechless, or if it would just stop.
In regards to the store below, several times during the evening my Mom and I would hear people playing pool and the jukebox. Since it was very hot in the apartment we would go down to buy a cold drink. We would get there and the place would be empty and not a soul in sight.
The last thing I recall about this place was that we had a box fan that we would put at the top of the stairs to draw cool air from the bottom. We would ALWAYS make sure it was off when we left home and almost everytime when we would get back, it would be on.
I wish my Mom were still around, I'm sure she could add to this.
What a fantastic story I love it! Thank you for sharing!
I would so love if you had pictures to share!
I saw an exterior picture from 1985 that shows it was a pool hall. The current owner of the pool hall and the adjacent bungalow next door unfortunately does not desire to sell. I fear for the pool hall as it has multiple code violations.
My Ionia house is just a few doors down.
Sorry, I wish I did have some pictures.
I noticed from Goggle maps that the 2 places across the street are being renovated. I copied the Goggle maps photos fearing that it would next and missing out on having any solid memories of the place.
Have you lived in the area long? Do you know if someone died or was killed in that place pre 74-75??
I bought in 2007. There is a long-time resident next to uptowngirl who may know. Chris Farley may know something as well.
The two places across the street from the pool hall have looked like that since 2007, unfortunately.
Ionia is in decent shape. A fair amount restored/renovated homes. Lots of empty lots though. I don't like that.
PM Chris Farley, see what she may know. She is a gem of a historian and very generous with her knowledge.
Thank you!