PB awaits OK to raze structure

Asbestos a concern in demolishing partially collapsed Shriner Building

PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff officials are waiting for a structural engineer's report on a vacant building that partially collapsed downtown on Friday before deciding if it needs to be razed.

The city is keeping Main Street between Sixth and Eighth avenues blocked off to vehicular traffic in case the building collapses further.

Meanwhile, a special meeting of the Pine Bluff City Council's Public Health and Welfare Committee has been called for 11 a.m. Thursday at City Hall to discuss the safety of downtown buildings.

Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth said she realizes the urgency of the situation.

"We have been in touch with the building's owner, Garland Trice, and he is on his way back here from out of town," Hollingsworth said. "We have asked for proof of insurance on the building and a report that it is asbestos-free, but we have not yet received confirmation on either of those points."

Attempts to reach Trice on Monday were unsuccessful.

The rear roof of the three-story structure at 620 Main St. -- known as the old Shriner Building -- collapsed early Friday afternoon, sending bricks toppling into an alley below. No injuries were reported, and there was no damage to neighboring buildings.

Heavy rains that fell recently likely contributed to the collapse, which pancaked the roof down onto the building's third floor, Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services Chief Shauwn Howell said. More than a third of the building's roof gave way, collapsing the top floor's south wall and most of the upper back wall.

Officials said they didn't know the exact age of the structure, but they believed it was built sometime in the early 20th century.

The Shriner Building marks the second structure collapse in downtown Pine Bluff this year. In February, the rear section of an aged two-story building at 401 S. Main St. fell in the early morning hours. The rest of the building was taken down by construction crews a short time later, though rubble is still piled at the site.

City officials said the building's owner had to raise money before paying for debris removal, which is why the site wasn't cleaned up immediately.

Hollingsworth said she has long been concerned about the structural integrity of downtown Pine Bluff's oldest buildings. The mayor said she is planning to introduce an ordinance to the City Council that would enable the city to hire a structural engineer who can "help us assess buildings that might be more compromised than others."

Hollingsworth added that the city has already "sent out letters to Main Street property owners letting them know we are going to be contacting them about reviewing the safety of their buildings."

As for the fate of the former Shriner Building, the mayor said more will be known once the engineering and asbestos reports are submitted to her office. Hollingsworth said the city "will move as quickly as it can to act. If it means the building comes down, we hope to have the site cleared in a timely manner. We don't want it to sit there for months and months."

Clearing debris from derelict buildings can be a tricky proposition, as officials in Hot Springs found out when the oldest portion of the former Majestic Hotel was gutted by fire in February.

Heaps of debris from the structure remain piled along Park Avenue downtown. The owner's debris-removal plan is pending with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

In Pine Bluff, Hollingsworth said Trice, who owns the former Shriner Building, has told city officials that he conducted an asbestos study on the building and found none, though documentation of such a study has not been provided to the city.

"That puts us in a much more difficult position" if asbestos is found in the building, the mayor said.

Bobby Davis, who owns a radiator repair shop directly across from the old Shriner Building, said he hopes a decision on the building's future comes soon, or at the very least that officials will reopen Main Street in front of his business.

"For people coming out of town, trying to find you and they see the street closed, they will think I am closed, too," Davis said. "We have been servicing customers from the rear of our building, but not everyone knows that. I will just be glad when all this mess is cleared up."

State Desk on 07/29/2014

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