The building on the left in this 2002 photo, beyond the bridge, was destroyed Saturday, November 13, by fire.

 

 

Louisville Courier-Journal article here.

Not another... the historic Cox Building in downtown Maysville, Ky. was on fire a few nights ago. It was in the middle of a restoration project after being abandoned for a while, but at least the Cox building is salvageable. This one... not so much.

Interesting news, Robert.

 

In my part of Michigan there have been four downtown fires in the last year in the near-to-eachother towns of Jonesville, Union City, Athens and Litchfield.  All of them in historic structures in downtown business districts.  The fire investigators have been befuddled in all of them, as far as I last heard (or read).

 

I'm not saying that these are connected to Paoli in any way but stranger things have happened!  Though the building in Paoli looks as though it was quite the tinderbox.  Sad, nonetheless.

Interesting news, Robert.

 

In my part of Michigan there have been four downtown fires in the last year in the near-to-eachother towns of Jonesville, Union City, Athens and Litchfield. All of them in historic structures in downtown business districts. The fire investigators have been befuddled in all of them, as far as I last heard (or read).

 

I was in Jonesville recently, my second time ever being there and I noticed a part of downtown at a street corner where I remembered there being some old buildings.  I was wondering if they were just demolished or what but that must be where the fire was.  Can you tell me anything about the fire in Jonesville?

ZachariahDaMan, you are a keen observer of detail (though this is evident by looking at your photos).  Indeed, the vacant lot you recently noticed was, in fact, the site of Jonesville's fire on November 22, 2009.

 

On late Sunday afternoon, nearly a year ago, a fire broke out in the basement of the Chicago Water Grill, a popular fine-dining establishment on the Northeast corner of Chicago and Water streets.  That address was the oldest commercial building in Hillsdale county and quite possibly the entire state of Michigan.  The two story, Federal Style, brick building was constructed in the late 1840s.

 

At least 12 fire departments from throughout the area responded as there were fears that the fire would march Eastward and take the whole block.  A combination of good firefighting, stoutly-built fire walls of multiple layers of brick and mortar as well as favorable winds combined to contain the fire to just the aforementioned building.  May's Furniture was housed in the east half of the building as well and it was a total loss and has not re-opened at another address.

 

The silver lining in all of this is that the owner of the Chicago Water Grill is currently in the process of rebuilding.  He is constructing a 1.5 to two story building of steel frame construction that is wrapped in dark brick (hand-laid; not pre-fab!).  The entrance is on the corner and quite the architectural detail looks to be in store for a dramatic corner entrance to a modern and bold building befitting of such a prominent location. 

 

I would be happy to post pictures of both the fire and the construction, if you are interested.

 

Oddly enough, the fire which occured in a restaurant/bar in Litchfield less than four weeks ago also started in the basement while the bar was closed.

 

There may still be YouTube videos available that were posted soon after the fire! 

Please do post the pictures, Jeff!  Thanks for all the info.