On Sunday evening, a wall collapsed on the side of a two story building located at 1112 Oak Street in Olde Towne East. The building has sat vacant and neglected by its former owner for several decades, but had been recently purchased by a new owner just a few months ago who had plans to restore the property for new retail and residential use. The new owners informed us on Sunday that they thought that the building could be repaired, but today announced that the structural integrity of the building won’t allow for that.
“After the catastrophic collapse of the eastern-most wall, the building has been deemed no longer structurally safe, and must be torn down to ensure the safety of the community,” said building co-owner Brad Hobbs via email. “The decades of neglect of the previous owner left the building in a sad and irreversible state that my partners and I were crazy enough to try to reverse. Unfortunately, the damage was too severe, and the collapsing of the wall has made the project impossible to complete without further risking injury or worse.”
Co-owner Krista Sparks added that the emergency demolition is expected to begin today. She said that they hope to salvage some of the design elements of the building that could be incorporated into a future new build that could attempt to replicate the facade of the original building.
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All photos by Walker Evans.
