Fire erupts overnight at historic Art Alliance building on Rittenhouse Square

A two-alarm fire broke out sometime early Friday morning at the Art Alliance building on Rittenhouse Square, a historically designated property that was sold last year as part of the University of the Arts’ bankruptcy case. One firefighter was injured while fighting the blaze.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at 251 S. 18th Street at 3:19 a.m. after smoke was seen rising from the rooftop of the building, where they observed “heavy fire throughout the three-story structure,” a spokesperson for the fire department said.

“This was placed into all hands status at 3:54 a.m., which means all responding companies were placed into service,” said fire department spokesperson Rachel Cunningham.

Two extra engines and two extra ladders were required. When a second alarm was called at 4:22 a.m., more than 120 firefighters were called to the scene. The blaze was placed under control at 5:36 a.m.

EMS treated and transported a firefighter who was injured during the hourslong effort. “Thankfully, they’re going to be OK,” Cunningham said.

Officials have not yet identified the cause of the blaze. The extent of the damage to the building — which includes a theater and a gallery — was not immediately clear.

The fire awakened some Rittenhouse area residents in the middle of the night, and videos posted on social media showed the building still smoking in the early morning sunlight.

On Friday afternoon, workers were boarding up demolished windows with plywood, and a steady stream of water flowed down the front steps of the building. Major portions of the roof were gone, though most of the exterior masonry appeared undamaged.

The fire comes amid a turbulent period and new ownership for the building. The Arts Alliance was one of nine properties owned by the University of the Arts that went to auction last year as part of the school’s dissolution of assets in bankruptcy court.

A bidding war followed that brought competing visions for the building’s future. The Pennsylvania attorney general objected to real estate mogul Allan Domb’s bid, citing a covenant that restricts use of the building for educational purposes.

The Curtis Institute of Music won the auction with a $7.6 million bid, and a court approved the transfer of the building in January. Curtis was still in the process of determining the future use of the building.

Curtis president and CEO Roberto Díaz was at the building for several hours Friday morning, and said school officials have not yet received clearance to enter the site to survey the interior.

“It’s a tragic thing,” said Díaz. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful, unbelievable building, and we’ll have to see what we have to deal with when we can see what the damage has been.”

Díaz said that the school had not been not doing any major work on the building at the time of the fire — some leaks were being fixed, and a clean out of papers, books, and other materials had been underway.

“The building was pretty empty,” he said.

There were no artworks inside except for architectural elements attached to the building, he said.

“I assume there’s a fair amount of water damage now.”

The fire doesn’t mean that Curtis will change its plans to renovate and occupy the Art Alliance, but the timeline and ultimate use of the space might now be in flux.

Díaz said Curtis wants to make the building “beautiful and wonderful. It’s an incredible part of the history of Rittenhouse Square.”