Laura Mondul felt drawn Friday afternoon to the vacant campus of Virginia Intermont College, where she stood and watched the remains of several of the 140-year-old school’s oldest buildings smolder.
As a 1996 graduate and former employee of the private liberal arts college that closed 10 years ago, Mondul said she had to be at the scene of the massive overnight fire — despite the cold, biting wind and gray sky that threatened snow.
Fighting back tears, she was going through a range of emotions, from sorrow and hurt to bitterness and anger.
“I don’t think this needed to happen,” said Mondul, who said she loved VI so much she moved to the area from Washington, D.C. “I think nobody cared enough and then they just let it go. … It was a beautiful, amazing campus with incredible history and there was incredible love here. We were family here … and now it’s ashes.”
Mondul, who worked for three years as the college’s public relations director, said she kept hoping that something good would be done with the school, but sadly, it never happened.
The blaze erupted around 12:18 a.m. Friday, according to City Manager Randy Eads, who said the fire was so large that fire officials had to put out a call for help that drew eight to 10 local departments from across the region. Tanker trucks that could haul water to the scene were most needed.
By afternoon, smoke filled the air around the campus on Moore Street in downtown Bristol and one fire truck was still spraying water over the hot spots in the buildings, which had collapsed into themselves. West Hall, Main Hall, East Hall and the administration building appeared to be destroyed.
Several buildings appear to have escaped fire damage: Hodges Hall; Holston Residence Hall, which used to be called Intermont Hall; the student center; Harrison-Jones Auditorium; and the Worrell Fine Arts Building, the classroom building and president’s house across Moore Street. The library was damaged in a fire about a month ago.
The cause of the fire was not yet known Friday, Eads said. An investigation is underway, the state fire marshal is assisting, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been contacted, he added.
Fire Chief Mike Armstrong could not be reached for comment Friday.
City Councilman Neal Osborne heard about the fire and was at the scene from 1 a.m. until after 4 a.m. He called the loss “a real tragedy for our city, for the alumni of the college and for every person in Bristol because it’s part of the heart of our city.”
The college, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, closed in May 2014 amid financial struggles, dropping enrollment and a loss of accreditation. The property was sold at auction for $3.3 million in December 2016 to a Chinese company called U.S. Magis International.
The owner later announced that he planned to establish a business college at the former campus, and he went through some accreditation steps, but the plan never materialized. A marquee with the name Virginia Business College still stands on campus.
The buildings were neglected and began to deteriorate. For years, city officials have been worried about the state of the structures and the danger they pose. They’ve tried repeatedly to get the property owner to improve and secure the structures, but with little success, Eads said.
In the last couple of years, when it became apparent that the business school was not going to happen, Osborne said the city “turned up the heat” on the owner.
In October 2023, the city notified the owner that he had 30 days to submit a plan to improve the condition of the buildings, Eads said. The city did get a plan and some work was done, but not enough to bring it out of its blighted condition, he said.
In April 2024, the city tax assessor declared some of the buildings derelict and blighted. In June, the city council raised the real property tax by 5% on those parcels of property that were considered blighted.
On Nov. 15, the city tax assessor advised city officials that all the buildings on campus were now considered blighted. On Dec. 10, the city council approved on first reading a 5% hike to the tax rate on all the property, and it’s expected to get final approval on second reading in January, according to Eads.
There are other legal avenues the city could take, but they would require the city to take possession of the former college property and “either have an entity in waiting who have the financial wherewithal to bring the buildings up to current building standards or the city would have to bring it up to current standards,” he said.
That would be “very difficult” financially for the city, Eads said. City leaders have been working for years to fix serious odor issues at its closed landfill, which is expected to cost a total of more than $60 million. The city also has more than $100 million in long-term bond debt.
Osborne said the property has an absentee owner and the city has tried to work with one of his representatives in Johnson City, Tennessee. He noted that there had already been two previous fires on the property, one a few weeks ago in the library and the other in the empty pool area about a year ago.
The vacant property has been a draw for homeless people in the past, but that hasn’t seemed to be as much of an issue in recent months, he said.
Eads said he communicated with the property owner’s local representative about the fire and was told he has no insurance on the buildings.
“So, no insurance company is going to come in here and clean this up,” he said. “Unfortunately, I think the city of Bristol is going to have to be responsible for cleaning this up and paying those costs.”
The city manager went on to say that he thinks it’s time for the Virginia General Assembly to consider ways to help localities with a “smoother process” when property that is owned by a foreign entity becomes derelict and blighted.
A called city council meeting that will be closed to the public will be held Saturday to discuss possible legal action and what happens next with the buildings. Eads said the walls of the buildings will have to be demolished because they’re dangerous. He said he had already talked to demolition companies on Friday to start getting cost estimates.
