By Kim Bell
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — A four-alarm fire late Wednesday engulfed a towering historic church that had been converted into an indoor skatepark north of downtown St. Louis.
The St. Louis Fire Department reported no injuries in the overnight blaze at Sk8 Liborius Church near Hogan and North Market streets. The cause is under investigation.
The fire, first spotted about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, kept crews battling for hours. Embers from the fire floated in the sky, sailing north, and caught a vacant home on fire three blocks away in the 1800 block of Warren Street.
Firefighters doused other nearby buildings in St. Louis’ Old North neighborhood to keep them from igniting.
The German gothic church at the St. Liborius Parish Complex was built in 1889. The site included a rectory and a convent years ago, and St. Louis added the complex to the city’s landmark list in 1975.
St. Liborius, which closed nearly 30 years ago, was bought and turned into a community arts center and nearly block-long indoor skatepark. The former church became a sanctuary for skateboarders in 2021. The building was transformed, featuring sprawling skateboard ramps and murals. They skated in indoor halfpipes as light streamed through the church’s windows.
The fire started in the church rectory and spread into the church where the skatepark is, said fire Capt. Garon Mosby.
“Luckily, no one was hurt,” said David Blum, the skatepark owner. “That’s all that matters.”
After sunrise Thursday, firefighters blasted water streams onto fire hotspots. Avian Duke and Chris Grindz, two board members for the skatepark, surveyed the damage from the front sidewalk. Debris littered the street, and they looked back at the scorched shell of the church.
“It’s way worse than what we expected,” Grindz said. “It was a beautiful place. We lost our home. It’s horrible.”
Grindz and Duke weren’t in the building when the fire started and didn’t know what sparked it. Grindz said two people may have been in the church building when the fire was detected. Blum, an owner, also said he was waiting to talk with fire investigators to learn more.
The building next door, a homeless shelter run by City Hope St. Louis, was largely untouched. Three people who were inside escaped unhurt when firefighters came banging on the door.
Michael Robinson, chief executive officer and founder of City Hope, could see the orange glow overnight as he raced down the highway to get to City Hope’s building. When he arrived on Hogan Street, flames that had destroyed the church were threatening his building too. Debris was raining down, hitting the shelter’s 15-passenger van.
“Literally, we watched the flames arc over our building,” Robinson said.
But the homeless shelter was only slightly damaged.
“It’s a miracle,” Robinson said. “God’s grace.”
Reporter Kim Bell covers breaking news for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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