By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó A Spencer landmark went up in flames Wednesday night, the local Jaycee clubhouse destroyed in a spectacular blaze.
The building, located alongside the Eighth Street Ballpark at the end of Baldwin Avenue, was burning furiously by the time firefighters arrived about 9 p.m.
Flames were shooting through the roof, visible from a good ways up Eighth Street. The flames licked the branches of low-hanging oak trees.
“We had a lot of good times in that building,” said Lynne Purvis, a lifetime Jaycee who choked back tears as she watched firefighters do their work.
Terry Smith, assistant chief of the Spencer Fire Department and Salisbury fire marshal, said a neighbor called to report the blaze. By the time officers with the Spencer Police Department arrived, Smith said the building was already close to halfway consumed in flames.
He said that because firefighters knew there was no one inside, they took a defensive stance, working only to contain the fire at the building that measured about 60 feet by 40 feet. A ladder truck was brought in so a hose could shoot water directly down onto the blaze.
Firefighters from a number of local departments ó Spencer, Ellis Crossroads and Salisbury, among them ó responded.
Firefighters took an axe to the back door, knocking it in so they could attack the fire from the rear. Others did likewise from the front door.
Many townspeople came out to watch the fire on a chilly night when snow still littered the surrounding landscape.
Smith said the fire started at the structure’s rear, and that part of the building eventually collapsed. He said it’d be at least today before investigators had any idea what caused the fire.
“We haven’t been able to get in, yet,” Smith said about 10:15 p.m. “There are still a lot of hot spots.”
Several current and past Jaycees stood and watched. They said they’d planned to re-roof the building today.
Purvis, that lifetime club member, said the building dated at least to the 1950s when former Jaycees like Buddy Gettys and Julian Johnston played a role in its construction. “Back when the Jaycees were just men,” she said of the era.
Purvis said the building was built as a frame structure, but had sometime over the years been bricked.
Purvis said that through the decades the building had been used for numerous Jaycee dances, as well as family get-togethers like Halloween and Easter celebrations. The Jaycees also held their weekly meetings in the building.
The Spencer Jaycees are one of the state’s more-active branches, playing a big role in the annual Rowan County Agricultural Fair and the Holiday Caravan Parade.
Purvis said many things lost in the fire are irreplaceable. She said framed portraits of the club’s past presidents lined the walls of the clubhouse.
“All the plaques we won over the years were in there,” Purvis said. “I don’t know how much of it can be recouped.”
Bystanders said the building included a meeting area, as well as a kitchen and pantry.
Along with several others, Purvis stood in the shadows and watched as firefighters did what they could to control the blaze.
“I hate this,” she said. “This building has meant a lot to an awful lot of people.”