The No. 1 center of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, founded in 1974, was burned overnight, wiping out a library, film screening hall and other educational spaces dedicated to children and teenagers.
The center had for decades provided book lending alongside cultural services such as storytelling sessions, film screenings and arts and crafts training for young people in the city.
A senior instructor who had worked at the center for over 20 years said staff were last present two week ago on the night before the riots began and discovered the damage when they returned two days later.
“Wednesday night was the last day we were here,” the instructor said. “When we came back on Friday, we were faced with these shocking scenes.”
The instructor said all sections of the center, including the film hall and reading rooms, were destroyed in the blaze.
“Sixteen thousand books may sound like a number you can say lightly,” the instructor added. “All of them burned in the fire on Thursday night.”
Reflecting on the loss, the instructor said the center had always taught children that humanity was the most valuable thing in the world.
“Those who want this root to burn should know that our roots are in this soil,” the instructor said. “Roots do not disappear. This place will be built again, and instructors will stand beside the children to create joyful moments for the children of Neyshabur.”
Meanwhile, local officials said the building was one of three main centers providing cultural services to children and adolescents in the city and had now been reduced to rubble.
Hosseinpour, the director general of the institute in Neyshabur, said the damage was extensive.
“This center had nearly 500 square meters of usable space, including a library, reading hall, screening hall and a postal library, and it has been almost 100% destroyed,” he said.
He added that the intensity of the fire had melted radiators and caused the roof to collapse.
“Destruction has been complete,” Hosseinpour said.
Separately, he said a final technical assessment had not yet been completed but early estimates pointed to heavy losses.
“The institute’s technical office estimates that more than 20 billion Tomans in damage has been inflicted on this complex,” he said.
He noted that this figure covered only structural damage and did not include the cultural loss from the destruction of books and facilities.
“Some of the books that were destroyed existed in only a single copy,” he said.
Hosseinpour said efforts were under way to prioritize reconstruction of the center.
“With follow-ups by the head of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults and the provincial governor, we aim to rebuild this center within six months and turn it once again into a joyful space for providing cultural and artistic services to the city’s children,” he said.
In a related development, Tasnim reported that the Neyshabur center was not the only site damaged during recent unrest.
Mosques, copies of the Quran and prayer books were also damaged, and some publishing facilities, including Dar Khouein Publishing, which focused on books about fallen soldiers, were attacked during the riots, the agency said.