They burned down the Victory Baptist Church.
Although the “they” is in question and it was no longer called VBC.
It was New Bethlehem or First United Apostles or some other congregation trying hard to spread the gospel on the edge of downtown.
I’m not a huge fan of big churches, because I think the money could be better spent than building fortresses, but VBC was built back in the early 60’s, so the cost wasn’t too extravagant.
And a lot of it was built/donated by the people who spent their Sunday and Wednesday nights there.
Giant yellow brick buildings that weather the storms of misfortune for almost seventy years get a little grace in my book.
Gone now, like so many others in the city that is slowly dying.
When you look at a city map of Pine Bluff, Main Street is lined with old historic brick buildings.
One black past Main though, it’s a different story.
Concrete slabs where buildings once were.
Not even parking lots, because who would want to park in an empty downtown.
Weeds fight the asphalt for sunlight and dominance.
It has been described as a war zone by those who have never been, though to me, it looks more like the aftermath of a storm.
Like a tornado has gone through and scoured the ground clear, if not clean.
It follows a rash of arson fires that have plagued the city over the past few weeks.
Mostly abandoned and dilapidated homes going up in smoke.
Maybe it’s out of state owners fed up with getting notices from the city to do something with their property.
Though in city property owners say that the city doesn’t send notices, and if they do, they are often wrong.
It could be homeless squatters trying to warm up a meal, and a campfire gone out of control.
The homeless are convenient targets for things that go wrong.
I think it might be more like an organized gang of strippers.
Not those busty chested doe eyes working the poles at the Peppermint Hippo, but meth heads or crank heads or plain poor opportunists going into the wall and stripping the copper wire and pipes, then setting fire to the structure to burn down the evidence.
Because in the past six weeks, PB Police have upped their efforts to curtail copper thievery, and have busted dozens.
Those same dozens get kicked from county lock up because it’s already full with drug dealers and murderers and assaulters.
Stealing copper is low key compared to those crimes.
But, if an empty house gets gutted first and then set on fire, well, there’s nothing left but the ashes and debris littering the lot.
And a bill for the fire department that tax payers get to cover.
In a city stretched thin by an ever shrinking tax paper population.
The VBC had a lot of copper wire and copper pipe.
It would have netted a good load.
Or may have, depending on what you believe happened.
Arson investigators will uncover and discover more.
Perhaps.
Since no one was hurt, maybe they’ll focus on something else.
While the bones of the church bleach in the sun and there’s a debate on who is responsible for cleaning it up.
Another piece of history vanquished by a mystery.
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