A portion of the back wall of a vacant downtown Centralia building in the 100 block of South Locust collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.
The outside wall was to an upstairs apartment. The bricks fell onto the roof of a nearby single story section of the building.
Centralia Community Development Director Gayla Harting says the owner of the building at 129 South Locust, George Whitfield, was planning to make repairs after consulting with his insurance carrier. The building last housed several bars.
Harting reports the rest of the building appears to be stable but has been condemned. The city has roped off the green space between that building and the next one on the block because a few of the bricks had fallen into the grass.
Harting joined Centralia Fire Chief Jeff Day and Public Works Director Jeff Schwartz in inspecting the condition of the building after the wall collapse was discovered after being heard by two neighboring businesses early Wednesday afternoon. She reports any repair plan would require city approval.
This is the second building on the eastside of the 100 block of South Locust to partially collapse this year. The other building at the south end of the block was torn down immediately by the owner because it appeared that a total collapse was imminent.
A wider view of the collapsed second-story wall and roof at a vacant commercial building in the 100 block of South Locust Street in Centralia. Photo by Pato Hodges.
