The city condemned it a while back and the property it was on was sold about a year ago.
Two weeks before it (was) burned, the city said it was to be torn down to run a water (or gas, not sure) main through the property. Protest and petitions from the community resulted in the reversal of the decision to destroy the landmark.
As I said, two weeks later it burned to the ground. The local paper said there will be no investigation as to the cause of the fire. Twas a beautiful night, no lightning, no wind, no electricity near the scene.
Hmm, must have been one of those "Acts of God" things, ya think?
Rams