Crowell-Collier sheds bricks; Main Street closed temporarily

Pieces of brick and mortar cover Main Street after a section of the Crowell Collier Building's brick wall fell several stories and exploded when it struck the ground Friday. Officials had blocked the section of the street after a piece of the wall fell earlier in the morning. The Springfield Fire Division used their aerial truck to reach the roof of the building where they pushed a loosened section of the wall down before it fell.

Bill Lackey Pieces of brick and mortar cover Main Street after a section of the Crowell Collier Building's brick wall fell several stories and exploded when it struck the ground Friday. Officials had blocked the section of the street after a piece of the wall fell earlier in the morning. The Springfield Fire Division used their aerial truck to reach the roof of the building where they pushed a loosened section of the wall down before it fell.

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By Kelly Mori and Megan Gildow
Staff Writers Updated 6:09 PM Friday, November 27, 2009

An 8-by-6-foot section of brick fell from the Crowell-Collier building early Friday, Nov. 27, closing the 200 block of West Main Street temporarily.

Springfield Police Division patrol officers found the crumbled brick on the sidewalk and in the street around 3 a.m. Friday morning, Lt. Lee Graf said. The bricks fell as one large section just above the fifth floor and exploded out once it hit the sidewalk, he said.

Springfield Fire and Rescue Division crews later pushed a second section of brick off the wall. The street is reopened.

“Our biggest concern is what if a pedestrian would get hit, or a piece of brick hit someone’s windshield,” Graf said.

The owner of the building is Harry Denune of Lake City, Fla., according to the Clark County auditor’s Web site. Denune could not be reached for comment Friday.

The citymay order part of a building or a whole structure to be removed if it poses a hazard to citizens, but it is unlikely such a large structure would need to be completely taken down, said City Manager Jim Bodenmiller.

“We’ll obviously assess the building early next week with our building official to determine if there’s any additional action needed but the immediate danger has been taken care of,” he said.

The building’s appraised value is nearly $1.2 million, according to the Clark County auditor’s Web site. The Crowell-Collier complex is a group of seven buildings built through 1946 that together have more than 846,000 square feet — 20 acres — of floor space, according to a 1999 study.