Fire at 32 E. Center 2006

Archive

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Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

4.6MB: "It was just a huge explosion that was heard and felt," said Gary Czerwinski, who works at and lives above 13 Hawks Studio across the street from the apartment building. "At first I thought it was from the (nearby) road construction, but then I heard screaming and I looked out the window and saw flames. Czerwinski showed where the heat from the fire melted the shutters on his studio and bubbled the paint."
4.6MB

"It was just a huge explosion that was heard and felt," said Gary Czerwinski, who works at and lives above 13 Hawks Studio across the street from the apartment building. "At first I thought it was from the (nearby) road construction, but then I heard screaming and I looked out the window and saw flames. Czerwinski showed where the heat from the fire melted the shutters on his studio and bubbled the paint."

Name/Title

Fire at 32 E. Center 2006

Entry/Object ID

2025.47.01

Scope and Content

Digital photos believed to taken by Dr. Marty Raebel and two PDFs of Holland Sentinel newspaper reports of the 2006 fire that destroyed the Van Syckel building at 32 East Center Street, the northwest corner of Center and Washington Street.

Context

About 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 a man drove his vehicle into the side of the building and ruptured a gas line. An explosion and fire followed. At the time of the fire the ground level housed Scott Kirkby's Center Stage Salon, the upper units were apartments rented by Steve Salzer, Jack Carey, Barb Leonard and Aaron Sheridan. Aaron is the son of property owners Allegan District Judge Stephen Sheridan and his wife Tanya Sheridan. Firefighters from five area departments joined forces to extinguish the flames. The building was later demolished. As of 2025, the corner lot is the garden for restaurant Borrowed Time.

Collection

Buildings: Lost, Fires and fire departments

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2025.47

Source or Donor

Kirchert, Erik Find 1957-

Acquisition Method

Donation, unconditional

Archive Details

Creator

Raebel, Martin

Location

* Untyped Location

Digital data in CatalogIt

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

32 E Center/Van Syckel Grocery/J.E. Durham store, Czerwinski, Gary Thomas 1952-?, 50 E Center/ReDefine Med Spa & L Salon/IsWhatItIs/Gallery/Bentley's Antiques/Gas Company, Sheridan, Aaron, Sheridan, Stephen "Steve" E. c1948-, Sheridan, Tanya, Blok, John 1942-2021, Giles, William "Billy"

Create Date

November 28, 2025

Update Date

November 30, 2025