Failing wall forces city to evacuate storefront
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Municipal Code Enforcement Officer Jim Wiederholt, left, talks on a cellphone at the site of a building that was evacuated Wednesday afternoon and tagged “dangerous and unsafe” following a citizen complaint that one of the exterior walls was bowing outward toward the street.
City officials moved rapidly Wednesday afternoon to evacuate a decades-old storefront building on the west side of downtown Maryville with a dangerously bowed wall.
Municipal Code Enforcement Officer Jim Wiederholt said the building, located at 124 W. Third on the south side of the street at the corner of North Buchanan, was evacuated and tagged “dangerous and unsafe.”
The building, reportedly owned by Michael Smith of Maryville, is part of a block of adjoining brick structures built in the late 19th or early 20th centuries that also contains the Rose Theater, home to a community drama group, and the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments.
Wiederholt said officials, including Maryville Public Safety Director Keith Wood and fire division Capt. Phil Rickabaugh, responded to a call to Wiederholt’s office from a “concerned citizen,” who reported that a plaster-covered cinderblock wall, which abuts a sidewalk and faces Buchanan Street, appeared unstable.
Wiederholt said it was obvious the wall had shifted considerably, and that information gained from a tenant following the initial report indicated the condition of the structure may have worsened over the last couple of days.
The ground floor of the two-story structure contained Miss Whitney’s Elite, a dance studio, and the second story had been converted into three apartments, two of which were occupied.
Dance studio staff, along with friends and family, hurriedly carried stereo equipment, furniture, and other items out of the business even as police were stringing yellow “do not cross” tape along the sidewalk.
At least one of the tenants is reportedly a student at Northwest Missouri State University. Authorities were still trying to notify some of the tenants shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday by calling them from the scene.
In addition to evacuating and tagging the structure, police and Public Works crewmen set up barricades barring access to the area by both pedestrians and vehicles. An Empire Gas technician was summoned to shut off natural gas to the building, which, for the time being at any rate, remained hooked up to electricity.
Wiederholt described the building as constructed of “unreinforced masonry,” meaning it was built — as once was common practice — using brick and stone unsupported by a grid of metal bars or some other strengthening framework.
“It’s just brick on brick,” he said.
Wiederholt said the city would notify the owner who would be responsible for hiring an engineer to inspect the building and make a recommendation with regard to its structural integrity.
He said there is no timeline for having such an inspection carried out, but that the city would encourage the owner to take appropriate action as quickly as possible.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
An exterior wall bows away from a strip of decorative molding Wednesday on the west side of an old storefront at 124 W. Third Street at the corner of North Buchanan. City officials were called to the site Wednesday after a citizen voiced concern that the structure might collapse. The two-story building, which has been evacuated, was home to a dance studio and three apartments, two of which were occupied.
