Russellville still dealing with building collapse

Friday, September 27, 2024 at 8:02 AM

By Paul Gable

A month and a half after a building partially collapsed in Russellville and the town is still dealing the aftermath.

In August, the Russellville Volunteer Fire Department responded to a partial building collapse in the 200 block of South Harrison Street. At the time, chief Darrick Wiatt said the parapet wall on the east side of the building started to come down and the department was notified by several concerned citizens.

The building has been slated to come down, however, it was a point of contention this week during the Putnam County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting. During the meeting, the owners, as well as Wiatt were all in agreement the building needed to come down. However, it was discovered that taking the building down could have an impact on another building to the south, according to Wiatt.

"The landowners have taken steps to tear it down, but there is a concern about a building to the south. We started to move in the right direction and it has hit a brief snag," Wiatt told The Putnam County Post.

As a result, a special meeting has been called for Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. to discuss the possible demolition.

"The road will be closed for another three weeks. The building is dilapidated and needs to come down. It is now a safety concern and tearing it down is a safety measure," said Wiatt, who added he believes rodents and other varmints may be living inside the building.

Wiatt told The Putnam County Post it is of the "utmost importance" that a resolution happen in the very near future.

"It is of the utmost importance. We will have 236 closing shortly and the detour will come right through town. Traffic is already bad in town with truck traffic and other traffic. It will be extremely dangerous. A lot of children ride bicycles downtown and around that area, and I don't want to see anyone get hurt," Wiatt said.

With that said, Wiatt has a clear message to residents while the street is closed.

"We encourage residents to take the marked off area seriously. With what happened in North Salem several weeks ago, we aren't willing to take any chances. We cannot allow something tragic to happen and take this seriously. If anyone has any questions they can reach to our Facebook page or me personally," Wiatt said.