Cookeville’s West Broad Street from Walnut Avenue to Church Street closed Wednesday afternoon after bricks from a building fell onto the street and sidewalk.
Cookeville Police Sergeant Jamey McCurry said officials speculate the collapse was weather-related. The bricks fell from the Engrafted Word Church.
“The front-facing brick most of which is original to the building had degraded to a level where the wind was able to force it to fall off the front,” McCurry said. “So a large portion of the storefront the brick facing the street fell to the sidewalk.”
McCurry said no one hurt and no vehicles damaged when the façade failed. Cookeville Chief Building Official David Clouse said he expects the road and sidewalk to be closed till about midnight as responders cleanup the mess.
McCurry said the building’s foundation showed no prior signs of the bricks potentially collapsing. McCurry said as officials investigated the incident they determined that there were no more potential threats.
“Our department used a drone to fly around looking for additional cracks and things with the fire department and other people on the scene,” McCurry said. “We don’t see any increased danger into leading that more will fall in the near future.”
Clouse said the remaining bricks on the building will be torn down as part of the cleanup for safety reasons.
