BROOKVILLE — The rubble left behind after a vacant building partially collapsed on Monday will be cleaned up in the coming days.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the collapse happened at 28 Market Street in Brookville around 10:40 p.m.
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City crews had to take what was left of the building down in an emergency demolition.
Public works trucks, roadblocks, and tape are blocking off the pile of rubble.
Brookville City Manager Jack Kuntz said they’ve ordered temporary construction fencing, which is expected to arrive on Tuesday night. They plan to have it installed first thing on Wednesday morning.
The site will be secure, locked down, and out of the way of the community festival.
Jodi Worley owns a hair salon called Shear Necessity in downtown Brookville.
“Yes, we’ve been here since ’03,” she said.
The building she rents for the business is right next door to the vacant building that partially collapsed.
“I hope it doesn’t take very long because it’s a mess,” she said.
It’s the building owner’s job to get the rubble cleaned up.
On Tuesday, Brookville City Manager Jack Kuntz said he and the fire chief have been in contact with the property owner.
Kuntz said he’s aware of his responsibilities and “appears to be working diligently” to get it cleaned up.
The city will declare the property unsafe and give the owner notice.
He’ll have seven days to clean it up himself.
If he doesn’t, the city will clean up the site and send the owner the bill.
“We’re hopeful that it doesn’t come to that. We will be prepared. If he’s unable to make the appropriate arrangements, we’ll get the property cleaned up as soon as possible, as soon our, as quickly as our code allows us to,” Kuntz said.
Brookville’s first “third Thursday” starts this week.
It’s a monthly community festival on Market Street from April to October that highlights local businesses.
“We’re usually open while it’s going on. Everybody’s up and down and everywhere. It’s really good for the businesses downtown,” Worley said.
After News Center 7’s John Bedell got questions about it, Kuntz said the collapse site will not impact the event.
It’s just outside the block of Market Street used for the event. Kuntz said the site will be locked up and secured by Thursday.
Property records show the building is owned by a company that comes back to a Brookville resident.
News Center 7 could not reach him for comment on Tuesday.
Brookville fire said planned renovation work was being done on the vacant building before the collapse.
Their assessment found several areas of instability, possibly from weather exposure over time.
In a social media post, the Brookville Historical Society said this building is one of the city’s oldest.
It was built in 1881 by Henry Albert for a music shop.
“Some of the early occupants of this building were: In 1905 the McNelly Brothers, The Landis Sisters had their Bee Hive Department Store in this building in 1912. Some of the other stores that occupied this building after that were the Warren Store and Patterson’s Bicycle Shop,” the post said.
We will continue following this story.
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