photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

The scene In the 600 block of Massachusetts Street Saturday morning, Aug. 10, 2024

Updated at 11:48 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10

A small fire broke out Saturday morning in the basement of one of Lawrence’s most historic downtown buildings, and its cause is under investigation.

The fire at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., led to a temporary evacuation of the immediately surrounding buildings and a brief closure of the 600 block of Massachusetts Street to traffic around 10 a.m.

The fire was discovered when an employee of Liberty Hall came to work, opened the door and saw smoke, according to Capt. Brandon Holloman with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, who said the flames were contained to the basement but that “a little smoke damage” had affected other parts of the large building. Crews were trying to ventilate the building, which is home to a movie theater and concert stage, and Holloman said he expected it to open up later Saturday when the smoke had cleared.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Firefighters worked inside Liberty Hall Saturday morning, Aug. 10, 2024, after a small fire broke out in the basement.

Holloman said the cause of the fire was not yet determined and that no damage estimate was immediately available. When asked what role smoke alarms or sprinklers may have played in the incident, Holloman told the Journal-World that investigators were determining that.

Shortly after 11 a.m. people were allowed to re-enter surrounding businesses, but Liberty Hall remained taped off, and firefighters were seen working inside the building.

The scaffolding that’s currently in front of the building has been in place for some time as work on the historic facade continues.

The Beaux-Arts-style Liberty Hall celebrated its 100-year building anniversary in 2012. The building previously on the site, the Bowersock Opera House, burned down in 1911, and J.D. Bowersock built the current venue to replace it the following year. It was given the name Liberty Hall in the 1980s, when it was restored by David and Susan Millstein and Charlie Oldfather, who saved it from being demolished and replaced with a shopping mall.

See a photo gallery of the historic venue here.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

The scene In the 600 block of Massachusetts Street Saturday morning, Aug. 10, 2024

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Liberty Hall was taped off Saturday morning, Aug. 10, 2024, after a small fire broke out in the basement.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

People start to reenter businesses on East Seventh Street and the 600 block of Massachusetts Street Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, after buildings were briefly evacuated due to a fire in the basement of Liberty Hall.