Video: Plans For Collapsed Okolona Building

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OKOLONA, Miss.(WCBI)–An old theatre building in downtown Okolona crumbles leaving city officials there to take care of the damage.

Yellow tape is used to block traffic from entering downtown Okolona near city hall. And even on a rainy Monday, a work crew begins clearing the rubble of what use to be a familiar hangout.

“People a lot of time think that if they keep the roof dry that that’s the best thing to do. And that is a good thing to do, but where the roof is tied into the masonry walls had been neglected some. And those areas caused the masonry to get weak,” said Tim Prewitt/City Code Official.

A demolition contractor is in place and after about 10 loads are taken away, that means the contractor is one thirds finished.

“We’ve actually engaged Ford Excavation out of Saltillo Mississippi and you see his equipment behind me here. He has already started trying to help us get some of the stuff removed,” said Tim Prewitt.

Debris removal is a 6 week job, then the city goes a bit further in shoring up surrounding properties in the immediate area. And although traffic is being detoured away from main street near city hall, in a week or two Christmas shoppers should be able to browse throughout area businesses.

“We’ll be glad to have access to downtown, a free flow of access. Because I think It’ll help all of the stores in the downtown area,” said Liz Brown/Store Owner.

“Most of these buildings were constructed around the year 1900. They’ve been renovated over the years and some we do expect that there are some things here that may be a little bit hazardous. So we want to make sure that we do everything correctly and getting all the debris removed properly,” said Tim Prewitt.

The debris from the collapsed building should be cleared away from main street just in time for their Christmas Parade.