JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local artist's creation survived an inferno after a three-alarm fire destroyed a downtown building.
The property owners allowed Shaun Thurston -- a local artist and One Spark Innovator -- to use the side of the building as a blank canvas.
Strangely enough, the artwork remained after the inferno.
"It's untouched for now. I ran out here to get a photo to catch some images before the (demolition) started," said Thurston. "I don't know how fast they're going to act on this."
The mural was just one of 20 pieces of art Thurston created around Jacksonville as part of Project Atrium -- Thurston's One Spark project done in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art.
The fire took hours to put out. Crews could only fight the fire using ladders. Both the second and third floors collapsed, and police continue to guard the building to keep people out for safety reasons.
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"It's a shame that the building never got any use and sat vacant for so long," said Thurston. "Hopefully there will be a functioning building in a future, but I feel the pain for the building owners for losing a space that had so much potential."
Thurston said he's happy to see his mural one last time.
The building is set to be demolished in the near future. The exact date has not been released.