CONNEAUT — Heavy equipment is finishing a demolition job Mother Nature and age started nearly three months ago.
Workers on Wednesday began knocking down the former Eagles Club building at 193 Main St. The brick building, empty for many months, partially collapsed July 8 during a heavy rainstorm.
Polchosky Excavating of Conneaut was issued a demolition permit by the city of Conneaut on Tuesday, a City Hall spokeswoman said. The permit requires the work to be completed within 30 days of issue, she said.
The building has occupied a prominent spot at the corner of Harbor and Main streets, one of Conneaut’s busiest intersections, since 1918. For many years, it served as the headquarters for the city’s Eagles Club, which vacated the building a few years ago. The most recent tenant was a coffee shop, which closed in 2007.
Activity at the work site picked up in preparation for the demolition project. During the past several days, workers were seen stripping the interior of the cavernous building.
Faulty drains caused rain, which fell during an afternoon storm, to pool atop the building, and the resulting weight brought down a large section of the roof, officials said. The collapse also ripped away a big chunk of the building’s rear wall.
Moments after the collapse, heavy equipment was brought to the scene to knock away loose and splintered bricks, which appeared ready to topple.
City officials closed the Harbor-Main streets intersection until owner Rudy Pryately Sr. stabilized the structure. A sidewalk and one lane of Harbor Street immediately in front of the building remain closed as a safety precaution.
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