By CHRIS MORRIS
A large concrete facade at Riverview Towers collapsed Monday night, and it’s still not known why the 3,000-pound section fell to the ground.
The incident occurred around 10 p.m. Monday, and the New Albany Fire Department was on the scene for more than an hour making sure the building was stable. There were no injuries.
Crews with Kimes Construction were on the scene early Tuesday to secure the opening in the building.
“We got on it pretty quick,” said Bob Lane, executive director of the New Albany Housing Authority. “We just want to assure the residents that the building is secure.”
Architects and structural engineers inspected the damage and building Tuesday morning and are still trying to determine how the section broke away from the building.
“We don’t have details on what happened. It just pulled itself away from the building,” Lane said. “It was a pre-formed cast that was bolted to the building.”
Lane said thankfully the section fell in an area away from the front entrance or high traffic areas. When the concrete facade fell to the ground, it took two air conditioning/heater units with it along with a section of the wall. The apartment affected was empty at the time and is used as the residential office.
Lane said when the new area is fixed, it will look exactly like it did but be much lighter. Other areas of the building similar to the section which fell are also being inspected.
There are no cost estimates to what it will take to fix the area.
“We had no indication that this was going to happen,” Lane said. “Right now we are just trying to shore up the area and go from there.”
There are 162 residents who live in Riverview Towers.
