PHOTOS: Brick wall collapses at Broad Street Market

HARRISBURG WHERE A WALL COLLAPSED AT THE BROAD STREET MARKET. NEWS EIGHT’S TOM LEHMAN JOINS US LIVE FROM THE SCENE. TOM. WELL, SUSAN, OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF PEOPLE REMEMBER THE FIRE THAT HAPPENED HERE AT THE BRICK BUILDING AT THE BROAD STREET MARKET THAT DAMAGED IT SO HEAVILY? BUT NOW ONE OF THE EXTERIOR WALLS FOR THIS STRUCTURE HAS COLLAPSED AS OF THIS MORNING, ACCORDING TO THE CITY OF HARRISBURG, NOBODY INJURED. THE COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN WORKING TO RESTORE THIS BUILDING WAS WORKING IN THE AREA AT THE TIME. BUT AGAIN, NOBODY INJURED AFTER THIS WALL COLLAPSED. YOU CAN SEE ALL THE BRICK AND WOOD AND DEBRIS RIGHT AROUND WHERE JUST LAST NIGHT THERE WAS A WALL STANDING HERE AT THIS BUILDING. A LOT OF PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE STRUCTURE HERE, WORKERS WITH ALEXANDER, THE COMPANY THAT IS WORKING ON THIS STRUCTURE, MANAGING THAT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, TELLING ME THAT THERE WERE OBVIOUSLY CONCERNS ABOUT THE FOUNDATION AND THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF ASSESSMENT HAPPENING HERE ABOUT THE CONTINUED FUTURE OF THIS BUILDING. I DO WANT TO BRING IT BACK OVER TO CITY COUNCILMAN RALPH RODRIGUEZ, WHO IS JOINING US HERE AT THE BROAD STREET MARKET. RALPH IS THE CHAIRPERSON FOR THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE WITH THE CITY. RALPH, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW AT THIS POINT? WELL, WHAT I KNOW IS VERY BRIEF, BUT IT SEEMS THE EXTERIOR WALL CLOSEST TO THE MILLWORKS ON THE SIXTH STREET SIDE OF THE HISTORIC BROAD STREET MARKET, ACTUALLY COLLAPSED THIS MORNING. IT SEEMS THE FOUNDATION KIND OF SNAPPED AT THE BASE. IF YOU SEE THERE ARE 3 OR 4 PIVOT POINTS WHERE IT HELD UP THE HISTORIC BRICK BUILDING WHERE THE NEW MORTAR WAS BEING REPLACED, BUT I’M NOT SURE IF IT’S DUE TO THE HIGH WINDS OR THE EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES WE HAD LAST NIGHT AND TODAY. BUT AS YOU SEE, IT’S GIVING WAY. AND ANOTHER PART OF THE BROAD STREET MARKET IS DESTROYED. YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO ASK. IT’S THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS NOW. THE RESTORATION OF THIS BUILDING, IS IT REALLY DISAPPOINTING? REALLY KIND OF TOUGH TO SEE THIS STRUCTURE GETTING ANOTHER HIT LIKE THIS. WELL, IT’S HIGHLY FRUSTRATING, ESPECIALLY TO BE SUCH A HIGH POINT OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE ADMINISTRATION AND COUNCIL, SOMETHING THAT WE’VE EVEN KIND OF WENT BACK AND FORTH ABOUT JUST AGREEING ON ALEXANDER. AND NOW THAT WE’VE GOTTEN THINGS APPROVED AND THE GREEN LIGHT TO DO THE WORK, THIS HAPPENED. SO IT’S IT’S A BIG MISFORTUNE FOR THE CITY. BUT I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO STAY POSITIVE BECAUSE ANSWERS ARE COMING. YOU KNOW, THE OTHER THING I WANT TO ASK YOU, ARE YOU WORRIED NOW ABOUT THE LONG TERM FUTURE OF THIS BUILDING, JUST GIVEN THAT WE SEE THE CONDITION IT’S ALREADY IN AND THIS JUST HAPPENED, NOW, I KNOW FROM ALEXANDER THEY WERE TELLING ME THAT AT LEAST PART OF THE WALL OVER THERE, THEY THINK THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THAT DOWN AS WELL. WELL, IT’S HIGHLY CONCERNING BECAUSE A LOT OF THE MONEY ALLOCATED WAS TO PRESERVE THE HISTORIC BUILDING. IF WE NEEDED TO JUST TEAR IT DOWN AND FORMULATE A NEW PLAN THAT COULD HAVE SAVED THE CITY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, AND WE COULD HAVE TAKEN ANOTHER WAY. SO IT’S JUST UNFORTUNATE TO GET THIS HAPPENING NOW, BUT WE DO HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS. I KNOW I DO AS THE CHAIR OF PUBLIC WORKS AS FAR AS THE INTEGRITY OF THE ACTUAL FLOOR AND LAND ITSELF, BECAUSE WHO KNOWS, WE CAN BUILD THIS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING, AND THE FUTURE OF THAT MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING MAY NOT BE THE BEST. SO I JUST ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO JUST BE PATIENT. WE WILL BE FORCED WITH ANSWERS, AND WE’RE JUST SO APOLOGETIC THAT ONCE AGAIN, OUR HISTORIC BUILDING IS DOWN. ALL RIGHT. RALPH RODRIGUEZ, CITY COUNCILMAN WITH HARRISBURG, JOINING US LIVE HERE ON WGAL TO TALK ABOUT, AGAIN, A COLLAPSE OF A WALL HERE AT THE BROAD STREET MARKET BRICK BUILDING, WHICH IS ALREADY DAMAGED IN THAT FIRE AND NOW SUFFERING ANOTHER BIG STRUCTURAL ISSUE WITH THIS WALL COMING DOWN. WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THIS. BUT F