The unthinkable

Like the biggest, most horrible lump of coal to land in anyone's holiday stocking, the unimaginable happened to our little town this week: our iconic and beloved Sag Harbor Cinema was completely destroyed by cruel winter fire.
Words are hard to come by to convey the empty space in my heart left by this tragedy. I feel like there's a hole inside me that won't go away. Everyone had such fondness for this unique building. Not only was it a clear signpost that said "you are in Sag Harbor!" but it was a fine example of understated Art Deco architecture in the midst of all the "ye olde" whaling look of the rest of Main Street and the village proper. It stood out...but gracefully so.
And now it's gone.
The powers that be have ruled out arson...but no one's sure (at this date anyway) just how it started. The fire took several other buildings on either side of the Cinema too.
After the initial shock and the realization that the whole facade had to come down for safety reasons, your mind rushes to "what happened to the sign?". Thankfully, they were able to save the letters and it's safely in storage for that hopeful day that they rebuild and put them back in their rightful place at the heart of the village.
Here's a picture I took the day after it happened as I got off the bus.



And here are a series of other shots from the web showing the devastation and the saving of the sign.