Building collapses
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 13, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Firefighters with the Goldsboro Fire Department navigate the rubble in an alley beside 139 N. Center St. Monday after the back half of the building collapsed under heavy rain.
Under heavy rains that fell overnight Sunday and throughout much of the day Monday, a downtown building collapsed on North Center Street.
No one was inside the building at 139B N. Center St. when it came crashing down. Nor did anyone hear it.
Karen Lively, of Carolina Outreach L.L.C., works in the building next door.
"Our water has been off in the building due to all this that has been going on outside, so we've all been out working in the field," she said, referring to the street being torn up for the Streetscape project.
Ms. Lively discovered the collapse when she returned to her own office to retrieve some items.
"We were just worried about gas leaks or electrical fires, but the fire department said everything looks good," she said.
Wiley Williams, operator of Goldsboro Furniture, which is located on the corner of North Center and Mulberry streets said he never heard a thing. His building and Ms. Lively's building bookend the collapsed structure.
"We've had some water leaking, but nothing like over there. It just fell between these buildings," he said.
Williams said he knew the man who bought the building recently had been trying to get roof renovations scheduled, but that it had been slow going.
Sergio Sanchez, the owner, confirmed as much once he finished meeting with fire and city officials.
"I bought the place a little over two months ago," he said.
He said he has been trying to schedule appraisals with engineers to either repair or to replace the roof, but due to the holidays, no one had gotten back to him.
The city inspectors told him the part of the building that collapsed, in what is called a pancake collapse, was not part of the original structure.
"It was an add on, so we will see. If the front of the building is -- if we can keep the front part then yes, I will go ahead," Sanchez said.
Sanchez meant go ahead and continue renovating the building to ready it for business. He said he bought the place to turn it into just the kind of place one might duck into to get out of the rain.
"A coffee shop," he said.