PELL CITY — After four months, the investigation continues in the arson of the former St. Clair County Department of Human Resources building.

“It’s still an open case,” said Stephen Holmes, public information specialist for the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office in Montgomery. “We still have an officer assigned to the case.”

Close to half-million dollars of damage was done to the facility, located at 3105 15th Avenue North, just off John Haynes Drive, during the early morning fire on Aug. 28, 2009.

Authorities said the fire was started with gasoline in the southwest wing of the building.

A joint investigation between the Alabama State Fire Marshal and the Pell City Police Department continues, but there are no new leads.

“It’s an active ongoing criminal investigation,” said Alabama State Fire Marshall Ed Paulk. “We’ll work on it until we get it solved.”

Paulk noted the State Fire Marshal’s Office only recently solved an arson that was nine-years-old.

Pell City Police Detective Joshua Herren also said he could not add anything new about the DHR facility arson but said the investigation continues.

Currently, DHR is operating out of the old St. Clair County Career Center building, 1310 Comer Avenue.

Barry Spear, public information officer for the Alabama Department of Human Resources, said the state agency is in discussions with the St. Clair County Commission about building a new DHR facility.

Spear said the St. Clair County Commission would build the facility and DHR would lease the building.

He said there is no timeframe for the construction of the new building, but the St. Clair County Commission has an area in Pell City picked out, near where the Alabama Public Health facility is located.

St. Clair County Commission Stan Batemon said the property being considered as the site for a new DHR facility is directly behind the Alabama State Health Department, along Jeanne Pruitt Drive.

He said the move would help centralize state offices into one convenient location.

Batemon said DHR cannot own property but can only lease property.

He said the St. Clair County Building Authority would build the new DHR building on the 8-acre tract currently owned by the Healthcare Authority, and DHR would lease the building from the St. Clair County Healthcare Authority, as before.

Batemon said the Healthcare authority would also lease the old DHR facility, which was damaged by fire, until the St. Clair County Commission and possibly Pell City took ownership of the property from the St. Clair County Healthcare Authority.

Batemon said the damage wing of the old DHR facility would be torn down, making the building smaller for possibly a small medical facility or doctor’s office.

Holmes said anyone with information about the August DHR arson is asked to contact the Alabama Arson Hotline at 1-800-654-0775 or the Pell City Police Department at 205-884-3334.