Fire in the Hole!

Arson is redevelopment by other means:

West Carson Street near the Duquesne Incline is expected to remain closed through today while crews raze part of a warehouse complex that caught fire early this morning, authorities said...

Firefighters responded about 3:20 a.m. today to a three-alarm fire at the abandoned warehouse complex near the west entrance to Station Square in the South Side, assistant fire chief Jim Crawford said...

Authorities closed West Carson between the West End and Smithfield Street bridges. The road likely will remain closed until tomorrow morning's rush hour, Huss said.

The facade of the middle building shifted while firefighters battled the fire, Huss said. Authorities said the building must be torn down...

A bit of history around this site.

For those of you that remember: the Old Lawrence Paint Company which sat across the street, was part of a fight between preservationists and Forest City Enterprises, who wanted to use as a staging point for a future gambling parlor (riverboat or otherwise). Intervention of the Bureau of Building Inspection rendered the discussion moot, when they found it to be dangerous and tore the building down...

Going back further, however, the North Pole Ice Cream Building which stood next to the Lawrence Paint Building collapsed in 1986.

The demolition of both these properties opened up vistas along the river, and made the road feel less claustrophobic. So, this could be a new opportunity to address a pretty ugly, choking eyesore along West Carson Street.

I wouldn't be surprised if the folks at the Riverlife Task Force or the Bureau of Building inspection were seen non-chalantly walking away from the seen with a book of matches smelling of gasoline.

Speaking of which, can they account for their whereabouts from 1986 until... now?