More than two years since the governor's mansion was burned by arsonist...

It has been two years since some still unknown scum bucket torched the governor's mansion during the Democrat Convention in Austin. Repairs are slow going (link). Excerpt follows...

AUSTIN – Two years after arson gutted the Texas Governor's Mansion, the slow, methodical, painstaking work of re-building the Texas treasure continues.

“What really hurt it was the fire and the water. The water, we had so much water,” said State Preservation Board project manager Dealey Herndon.

The mansion's thick brick walls and 1850s building techniques essentially helped the building save itself from destruction, especially the signature white columns, still blackened two years after the blaze.

“These columns, you just look at them and think they’re ruined, but (the fire) actually created a coating because the old wood was so dense, if this had been new wood it would have been gone,” Herndon said.

The smells of old smoke and new lumber fill the mansion. Cosmetic interior work will have to wait, though. Months of exterior work will begin soon. First removing lead paint from the outside, then comes the crucial step of installing a new roof.

“We can’t get to the inside of the house until we put a good solid roof on the house - we don’t want anymore water in the house,” she said.

A sad story... and especially sad that the authorities have not found who did it... you have to wonder about the timing... right during the Democratic Convention in Austin...