Inn fire takes away a piece of history

No one was hurt, but after battling the blaze for more than five hours, firefighters declared the once-majestic building a total loss. What’s left of the National Register of Historic Places landmark will probably be demolished. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“We are investigating every option right now,’’ said Joseph Bosselait, Groton fire chief. That includes mechanical failures and lightning strikes from storms that moved through Massachusetts on Tuesday.

Once fire crews clear the burned area, which was once the dining room and part of the bar, investigators for the Groton Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives will examine burn patterns and search for the fire’s center. ATF is involved because the case involves a total loss and a historic place, both triggers for more investigation, Bosselait said. He declined to comment on whether the fire seemed suspicious. Insurance investigators were expected to begin work this morning.

The rambling white building with the wraparound porch was once Groton’s crown jewel, residents said: not only a Christmas party location or a classy place to grab a cocktail, but the town’s defining landmark in a string of historic buildings along Groton’s Main Street.

“You don’t even have to look at the inn as you drive by to know it’s there,’’ said Alvin Collins, the head of the Groton Historical Commission. He arrived with a team and a tape measure yesterday to measure and record every dimension of the building, should owner George Pergantis, 81, choose to rebuild. “You sense its presence.’’

The slow march of New England historic buildings disappearing seems like a cloth unraveling, Collins said. Even if Pergantis rebuilds the inn to its original dimensions, the history is mostly gone.