The Memphis church pivotal in Martin Luther King Jr.’s final days suffers a devastating fire

MEMPHIS Tenn AP A historic Black church in downtown Memphis that was the organizing point for Martin Luther King Jr s final campaign in caught fire early Monday morning and suffered major damage The inside is a total loss but we re still somewhat hopeful that specific of the facade will be able to be left standing Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat noted at a Monday morning news conference She reported the fire was released at a m through a commercial alarm arrangement Local fire and police officers are analyzing the cause along with the U S Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives It is way too early to know anything more Sweat explained King was drawn to Memphis in to sponsorship particular predominantly Black sanitation workers who went on strike to protest inhumane cure Two workers had been crushed in a garbage compactor in but the faulty equipment had not been replaced On Feb two more men Echol Cole and Robert Walker were crushed in the compactor The two men were contract workers so they did not qualify for workmen s compensation and had no life insurance Workers demanded to unionize and fought for higher pay and safer working conditions City officers declared the strike illegal and arrested scores of strikers and protesters Before the fire the Clayborn Temple was undergoing a million restoration that was slated for completion in The initiative aims to preserve the architectural and historical integrity of the Romanesque revival church and includes the restoration of a -pipe grand organ At the same time the project seeks to help revitalize the local neighborhood with a museum cultural programing and neighborhood outreach according to a news release on the renovation This morning we woke up to heartbreaking news a devastating fire has ravaged one of our city s greatest treasures Clayborn Temple Memphis Mayor Paul Young wrote in a comment posted to social media Clayborn is more than a historic building It is sacred ground It is the beating heart of the civil rights movement a symbol of struggle hope and triumph that belongs not just to Memphis but to the world Just south of Beale Street Clayborn Temple was built in as the Second Presbyterian Church and originally served an all-white congregation In the building was sold to an African Methodist Episcopal congregation and renamed Clayborn Temple according to the release Memphis sanitation workers started striking in February after Cole and Walker were killed on the job The Clayborn Temple hosted nightly meetings and the campaign s iconic I AM A MAN posters were made in its basement The temple was also a staging point for marches to City Hall They included a March march led by King a rally that turned violent when police and protesters clashed on the iconic Beale Street and a -year-old was killed When marchers retreated to the temple police fired tear gas inside People broke certain of the stained-glass windows to escape King promised to lead a second peaceful march in Memphis but he was killed by a sniper while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel on April After King was assassinated and the strike ended with the workers securing a pay raise the church s influence waned It fell into disrepair and was vacant for years before the renovation effort that took off in thanks to a grant from the National Park Utility Clayborn Temple was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in Jimmie Tucker one of the architects who has been working on the restoration for years reported Monday that he spent the morning working on a plan to try to shore up the exterior walls He had been speaking to a few of the people who helped after a similar Memphis fire at First United Methodist Church in He explained that project gives him hope because they were able to rebuild As a native Memphian this project is personal he stated It has so much meaning Young pledged that the city will help ensure this sacred place rises again