Update: Demolition was completed by the spring of 2018. The site is still a vacant lot. See photos of the mansion in the 1960s here.

As I walked west on Cass Avenue, towards the smoldering ruins of the Clemens Mansion, the sound of water trickling as it ran out of pipes and gutters reached my ears.

The firefighters had to engage in some massive forestry work to get to the raging inferno.

In fact, even after the fire department’s landscaping work during the conflagration, the amount of out-of-control trees and weeds still largely conceal the mansion’s front façade.

I honestly couldn’t get any clearer views from the street.

What else is there to say?

The collapse of the chapel happened all the way back in May of 2008.

Initial reports that the old Cass Bank building caught on fire turned to be untrue, fortunately. It was actually the old chop suey place next door.