GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A fire burned through a building in southeast Grand Rapids Tuesday afternoon.
The building was home to Painting by Jeff, two apartments, and a club. All were destroyed in the blaze.
Wednesday, owner Jeff Kimbrel combed through ashes to find anything salvageable.
"It hurts," said Kimbrel. "Something you put 30 years, 30 plus years into, to see it just go up in your face [doesn't'] feel good.”
Kimbrel said the club, called The Sophisticated Gentlemen and Ladies Auxiliary Club, was something of a local icon. He owned the location for 17 years, and said it often was rented out and acted as a community center.
“When you look at the pictures of the thousands of people who came through here over the past 17 years, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me, but it tears my insides up. And what keeps me going is the good words of the community," Kimbrel said.
Kimbrel said the club housed fun times, meetings, and family events. There even were block parties in the road with hundreds of attendees.
“Just keep me in prayer. All I can ask for, just keep praying for me and hope for the best," he said.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. Fire crews say the flames started in the painting business and spread to the other units. Kimbrel said the tenants of the two apartments made it out safely, but two cats are presumed dead.
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