MUSKEGON, Mich. — Leaders at the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore are still cleaning up in the aftermath of a fire on Aug. 12 that ravaged their newly planned clubhouse just weeks before it was set to open.
Now, they're giving an inside look of the scene.
"It's an extensive cleaning process to make sure that there is no smoke or soot or any other damages inside of the building," Boys and Girls Club CEO Monica Turnbull said.
Soot, discoloration and melted materials now characterize the landscape within the building - no more so than in the racquetball room, where the fire was believed to have been intentionally set in a case of arson.
"So, these walls were white," Turnbull said, describing the now-pitch black walls of the racquetball room.
It isn't just the building itself, however, that has that same damage.
"These are not charcoal filters, even though that's what they look like," Turnbull said, pointing to blackened technological surfaces. "Inside of each of these has a computer system."
It was a fire that's estimated to have caused anywhere between $5,000,000 and $7,000,000 in damage and one for which authorities still have not been able to find a suspect.
"It's unfortunate that we haven't been able to narrow down further, at least up to this point, as to who's involved," Muskegon County Prosecutor and Boys and Girls Club Board President DJ Hilson said. "And, certainly, I know the community has a vested interest in making sure that those who were responsible are held accountable because this asset is on hold until, you know, ultimately, we can get it all cleaned up and put back in the condition it was prior to the fire being set."
Despite the damage and extensive cleanup process ahead, the Boys and Girls Club is still planning to operate out of their other locations, to continue providing community services.. until they can open the new facility.
"I'm feeling much better now that we're underway of cleaning, and that we have sorted out how we're going to still serve the community while we have this temporary setback," Turnbull said. "So, we're still maintaining our temporary locations for youth and our fitness center and we are still serving the community and we will not stop."
Hilson and authorities are asking anyone with information to come forward. Community members can do so anonymously through Silent Observer.
The reward for information leading to an arrest or prosecution now stands at $30,000.
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