Aurora's Iconic Lincoln Masonic Temple Burns Down

CHICAGO  (CBS) -- We're getting a closer look at the devastating damage done to an historic building in Aurora, where hours later it is still smoking.

Only charred remains exist of the Lincoln Masonic Temple.

CBS 2's Audrina Bigos has the story from Aurora.

Firefighters said it's not safe at this point. They said it could collapse at any point.

Five stories and 50,000 square-feet now charred. The walls, collapsed. The roof, gone. But the history is still being told here near downtown Aurora.

"I used to own the building. We lived on the whole (top) floor. We built bedrooms in the corner and put a little kitchenette in, so we were good to go," said former owner Vernon Lavia.

He also ran an event space downstairs. He held weddings and other events there, hundreds of them. But he couldn't keep up with the building repairs which totaled somewhere around a million dollars.

He later sold it. That person sold it. Then the next person, and so on.

That put it on the list of the Most Endangered Historic sites in Illinois back in 2009. Lots of ownership problems, fights in court and no money, as it continued to deteriorate.

Some called it an eyesore, a fenced-off burden. Now it's burned.

Monday night, flames shot out of the building and spread fast. So much so that five families close by had to leave their homes. And at one point, more than 400 people lost power in the area.

So how did this historic temple, built almost 100 years ago, catch fire Monday night? Firefighters can't find out because it's not safe to go inside.

The city of Aurora is going to demolish the building. That could happen as soon as Wednesday.

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