Large concrete chunk falls from downtown building, no one hurt

Sep. 23—No one was hurt Thursday when concrete the size of a pinball machine fell from the top of The Gray Mill Co. to the sidewalk in front of The Nest, 510 E. Broadway.

The ornamental piece fell with a thud about 1:45 p.m. while workers were restoring the façade as part of the Main Street Revitalization Program (MSRP).

It "scared the bejeebies out of me," said Nikki Reid, owner of The Nest.

When Reid heard the sound, she was concerned that it involved one of the workers who have been renovating The Gray Mill's building façade just to the west side of her shop.

"I thought the lift he was in had fallen to the ground," Reid said. "That's what it sounded like."

Then she saw the concrete block that came close to blocking her front door, shearing off the north side of a tree as it fell there.

She was relieved when she saw no people were hurt — neither the workers nor her customers.

"Everything else can be fixed," she said.

She was concerned that the huge limestone chunk was the start of additional things falling, as the concrete and bricks looked loose at the spot where the fallen piece had been.

"It looks like there's more to come," said Reid.

If closing her front door to business would keep people safe, she was glad to redirect them to the business's back door, she added.

After inspecting the area, workers fenced off the sidewalk on the north side of the 500 block of E. Broadway.

Project Manager Eric Felver said that he wouldn't speculate on the cause of the fall until his brick experts looked at the building. He expected to be able to give an accurate answer Friday morning.

In the meantime, work stopped on the building.

Logansport's Mayor Chris Martin, Deputy Mayor Jacob Pomasl, Building Commissioner Rob Rennewanz and Planning Executive Director Arin Shaver were all on the scene about 2 p.m.

Rennewanz said the city would make a sign directing The Nest customers to her back door.

He speculated that it's the result of workers using a power washer to remove old mortar and debris before tuckpointing — adding fresh mortar into the cracks.

However, he stressed that this was an educated guess and he couldn't be sure until they inspected the building.

The Gray Mill had already been directing customers to use its west entrance — a side door — after closing off the main entrance on the south side about a week ago, said co-owner Bill Graybeal.

Given the type of work being done on a building about 100 years old, he wasn't surprised this happened and said work will continue.

"Just a bump in the road," he said. "I have faith in those handling the situation."

That includes the architect and the contractor, who knew what to do.

Rennewanz said this is the first potentially dangerous problem that has happened because of the MSRP program work.

The MSRP is a $600,000 grant that Logansport received from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs that is leading to about $995,650 in renovations with city and building owner contributions.

Work began in June at Black Dog Coffee and Legacy Outfitters at 116 Sixth St. and is scheduled to finish in May.

Reach James D. Wolf Jr. at james.wolf@pharostribune.com or 574-732-5117

Twitter @JamesDWolfJr