×

Building collapses in downtown Steubenville

PROBLEM — Steubenville officials are deciding what to do about a partially collapsed building along South Fourth Street. -- Contributed

STEUBENVILLE — City officials will decide today if a building at 211 S. Fourth St. that partially collapsed Thursday should come all the way down.

City Manager Jim Mavromatis said there’s no way to know if the property can be saved until Urban Projects Director Chris Petrossi inspects it.

“A lot of that was facade that broke away,” Mavromatis said. “You don’t know what the inside’s like until it’s examined.”

The building, which years back had been a cigar store, was vacant. Mavromatis said there were no injuries.

Mavromatis said the owner of the building lives in the community and was notified of the collapse. He also pointed out the problem is not unique to Steubenville.

“Every city in America has (a problem with dilapidated structures),” he said. “You can go up and down this Ohio Valley, look at every city (it’s the same).”

Once a property owner is notified, “It’s his responsibility to take care of it,” Mavromatis said. “Hopefully, he has insurance on the building and can take care of it that way.” Had they been unable to find the owner, he said the city would have had to demolish the property and then file a lien against it.

Sixth Ward Councilman Bob Villamagna said he was relieved no one was hurt, adding he’d been in the building not so long ago. “It didn’t look bad at all, but I’m not an architect or an engineer,” he said.

Villamagna sees the facade collapse as symptomatic of a bigger problem in the downtown area.

“These old abandoned buildings in the downtown area have been empty for so long, the roofs have huge holes in them and rain water gets in the walls,” he said. “It freezes in the winter, then come spring everything starts to thaw — that’s when the danger comes. That can only happen so long.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today