The College of Marin Gymnasium Fire in Kentfield, December 16, 1963.
by Tom Forster
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, shocking a nation and sending it into mourning. A little over three weeks later, the College of Marin Gymnasium would burn down, on December 16, 1963. The Gym had originally been built in 1931, at a cost of $57,000, or about $450,000 in today’s dollars, given inflation. It had been constructed on a 10-acre site purchased from Ernesto Corvi for $26,000. The original plan called for an identical second Gym to be built next door, to house Women’s Athletics. This second Gym, however, was never built.
The 30 year-old Gym has been condemned for public assembly use in 1961 by the Kentfield Fire Protection District, deeming it a fire hazard. It was, however, still in use while a new gym was being built. The old structure was used in 1963 for physical education classes, basketball practice, and equipment storage, and was scheduled for demolition when the new building opened.
On Tuesday, December 16, Kentfield Fire Chief Kenny Kamp was in a meeting about installing a new fire water main system at the college, including around the new Gym being built. They were interrupted by a report of fire at the old gym at 3:24 p.m. Phone calls poured in to the Kentfield Fire District hotline – this was five years before the start of the national 911 phone system. KFD set off the fire horn to call the volunteer firemen, and responded. A heavy stream from Kentfield’s 75-foot ladder truck was used from above, along with multiple large hose streams to eventually extinguish the blaze.
Mutual aid was requested from Larkspur, San Anselmo, and Tamalpais Valley. “About 50 firemen and five trucks,” fought the fire as reported by the Marin Independent Journal. “College students and youths from nearby Adeline E. Kent School assisted the firemen with hose lines.” Firemen were unable to get close to any entrances due to the fire and heat. The steel and wooden beam construction eventually collapsed in sections, with loud crashing noises. Kentfield fireman Rolf Stahlbaum was treated by a doctor after stepping on a nail, and KFD would later stand by the smoldering pile of ruins all night to put out spot fires.
Hundreds of spectators lined the area, but were kept at a safe distance by ropes put up by Sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement. Traffic into the area was also diverted with the assistance of the Larkspur PD, from both the Larkspur side and Sir Francis Drake. Chief Kamp said there was “…no hope to save the building, as it was tinder dry, and the basketball court had several decades of varnish applied.” Small explosions were heard throughout the fire, thought to be from rifle ammunition that was stored in the basement.
The gym was eventually destroyed in the fire, and it was declared to be a loss of $300,000, or $2.3 million dollars in 2015 when adjusted for inflation. This was covered by insurance. All of the equipment used by the basketball team was destroyed. The team used the gym for practice, but actually played games in high school gyms in Marin since the assembly use had been banned. In addition, contents of lockers used by 800 students were ruined, along with weight equipment and supplies used by the tennis, track, and golf teams. Trophies and all of the records of the coaching staff and Physical Education Department were lost.
Arson was suspected, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office was called in to investigate. Lee Busolo, owner of the Chevron Station across the street, reported seeing heavy smoke pouring out of a ventilator on the south side. He later described seeing “an adult looking man” run out from the back of the building where the men’s locker room was, shortly before flames were visible from the windows. A few minutes later, he described “…a tremendous rushing noise...flames shot 75 feet into the air, blowing out the windows.”
In addition, College football coach Richard Reed reported he had locked the building at 2:30pm, and that it was unoccupied. As such, all of the building mechanical systems were still operating including the natural gas fed boiler and an electrical heating system. However, by Thursday, KFD and MCSO Inspector Guido Battaglia had ruled out arson. Fire Chief Kenny Kamp reported that a portable electric floor heater had been left on in the building. Basketball uniforms had been hung above the heater to dry, and it was determined that one must have fell onto the heater and caught on fire. He stated "We are completely satisfied that the fire was accidental."
Chief Kamp also reported that the man seen running from the fire could have been doing so to report the fire. KFD was "swamped with phone calls" reporting the fire and did not record the names of callers. Over the next year, portable, temporary buildings would be used to serve the needs of the teams and Physical Education programs, until the new Gym opened.
Jim Mann, retired from Marin County FD, remembers the old gym. "It was my dad's idea to take me to a game there to see the Harlem Clowns. He and I both liked basketball. It was January 1961, I was ten and playing CYO basketball at St. Raphael's grammar school and he had played at San Rafael High. I recall that the gym had a dark old musty wooden feeling about it. Not real comfortable for viewing a game. I had seen the Harlem Globetrotters on TV, but didn't know what to expect from the "Clowns". Turned out that they put on a very entertaining show along with a basketball game playing against former College of Marin players. That was my only time ever being inside the old gym. Looking back on things now, I can see why it was condemned by Kentfield Fire later that year."
Research sources: Marin Independent Journal, articles on December 17, 18, 19, 1963.
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, shocking a nation and sending it into mourning. A little over three weeks later, the College of Marin Gymnasium would burn down, on December 16, 1963. The Gym had originally been built in 1931, at a cost of $57,000, or about $450,000 in today’s dollars, given inflation. It had been constructed on a 10-acre site purchased from Ernesto Corvi for $26,000. The original plan called for an identical second Gym to be built next door, to house Women’s Athletics. This second Gym, however, was never built.
The 30 year-old Gym has been condemned for public assembly use in 1961 by the Kentfield Fire Protection District, deeming it a fire hazard. It was, however, still in use while a new gym was being built. The old structure was used in 1963 for physical education classes, basketball practice, and equipment storage, and was scheduled for demolition when the new building opened.
On Tuesday, December 16, Kentfield Fire Chief Kenny Kamp was in a meeting about installing a new fire water main system at the college, including around the new Gym being built. They were interrupted by a report of fire at the old gym at 3:24 p.m. Phone calls poured in to the Kentfield Fire District hotline – this was five years before the start of the national 911 phone system. KFD set off the fire horn to call the volunteer firemen, and responded. A heavy stream from Kentfield’s 75-foot ladder truck was used from above, along with multiple large hose streams to eventually extinguish the blaze.
Mutual aid was requested from Larkspur, San Anselmo, and Tamalpais Valley. “About 50 firemen and five trucks,” fought the fire as reported by the Marin Independent Journal. “College students and youths from nearby Adeline E. Kent School assisted the firemen with hose lines.” Firemen were unable to get close to any entrances due to the fire and heat. The steel and wooden beam construction eventually collapsed in sections, with loud crashing noises. Kentfield fireman Rolf Stahlbaum was treated by a doctor after stepping on a nail, and KFD would later stand by the smoldering pile of ruins all night to put out spot fires.
Hundreds of spectators lined the area, but were kept at a safe distance by ropes put up by Sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement. Traffic into the area was also diverted with the assistance of the Larkspur PD, from both the Larkspur side and Sir Francis Drake. Chief Kamp said there was “…no hope to save the building, as it was tinder dry, and the basketball court had several decades of varnish applied.” Small explosions were heard throughout the fire, thought to be from rifle ammunition that was stored in the basement.
The gym was eventually destroyed in the fire, and it was declared to be a loss of $300,000, or $2.3 million dollars in 2015 when adjusted for inflation. This was covered by insurance. All of the equipment used by the basketball team was destroyed. The team used the gym for practice, but actually played games in high school gyms in Marin since the assembly use had been banned. In addition, contents of lockers used by 800 students were ruined, along with weight equipment and supplies used by the tennis, track, and golf teams. Trophies and all of the records of the coaching staff and Physical Education Department were lost.
Arson was suspected, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office was called in to investigate. Lee Busolo, owner of the Chevron Station across the street, reported seeing heavy smoke pouring out of a ventilator on the south side. He later described seeing “an adult looking man” run out from the back of the building where the men’s locker room was, shortly before flames were visible from the windows. A few minutes later, he described “…a tremendous rushing noise...flames shot 75 feet into the air, blowing out the windows.”
In addition, College football coach Richard Reed reported he had locked the building at 2:30pm, and that it was unoccupied. As such, all of the building mechanical systems were still operating including the natural gas fed boiler and an electrical heating system. However, by Thursday, KFD and MCSO Inspector Guido Battaglia had ruled out arson. Fire Chief Kenny Kamp reported that a portable electric floor heater had been left on in the building. Basketball uniforms had been hung above the heater to dry, and it was determined that one must have fell onto the heater and caught on fire. He stated "We are completely satisfied that the fire was accidental."
Chief Kamp also reported that the man seen running from the fire could have been doing so to report the fire. KFD was "swamped with phone calls" reporting the fire and did not record the names of callers. Over the next year, portable, temporary buildings would be used to serve the needs of the teams and Physical Education programs, until the new Gym opened.
Jim Mann, retired from Marin County FD, remembers the old gym. "It was my dad's idea to take me to a game there to see the Harlem Clowns. He and I both liked basketball. It was January 1961, I was ten and playing CYO basketball at St. Raphael's grammar school and he had played at San Rafael High. I recall that the gym had a dark old musty wooden feeling about it. Not real comfortable for viewing a game. I had seen the Harlem Globetrotters on TV, but didn't know what to expect from the "Clowns". Turned out that they put on a very entertaining show along with a basketball game playing against former College of Marin players. That was my only time ever being inside the old gym. Looking back on things now, I can see why it was condemned by Kentfield Fire later that year."
Research sources: Marin Independent Journal, articles on December 17, 18, 19, 1963.
