A homeless man has been arrested and charged with arson in the September fire that destroyed a downtown Mobile building that had been slated for historic preservation.

Arson investigators with the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, along with Mobile police, arrested 53-year-old Henry Jackson McGill, who also goes by Jacci Augustine McGill, on Saturday just after midnight.

McGill is charged with 2nd-degree arson, which in Alabama is defined as intentionally damaging a building by starting or maintaining a fire or causing an explosion. It is a Class B felony which carries a prison sentence of 2-20 years.

On Sept. 14, Mobile Fire-Rescue personnel responded to a fire at 407 Dauphin Street about 9:35 p.m. Dozens of firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control and keep it from spreading to connecting and adjacent buildings. Once the fire was extinguished, only the facade remained. The building was declared a total loss.

McGill has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1989, according to jail and court records, including charges of theft, assault, domestic violence, trespassing, soliciting prostitution, public lewdness, loitering, prostitution, burglary, public drunk, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.

He was booked into Mobile Metro Jail Saturday. In addition to the arson charge, he was also booked on an outstanding warrant for domestic violence. He is being held without bond pending a hearing Monday morning.

The building was vacant at the time of the fire, but Historic Mobile, a subsidiary of Main Street Mobile which works to preserve the architecture and buildings of downtown Mobile, was in the process of purchasing the building when the fire occurred. The nonprofit revolving fund, which is solely philanthropically funded, also owns property on Congress Street in downtown Mobile.

The building owners submitted a plan to save the remaining facade. It wasn’t immediately known whether Historic Mobile still hopes to acquire the building.