Repairs underway after Columbia building partially collapses

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Construction is underway on a building in downtown Columbia after a partial collapse following heavy rain Wednesday morning.

The building is located between South Fifth and Sixth Street. It is rented by CFM Insurance, according to ABC Environmental Contracting Services, which is doing the repairs.

Contractors started evaluating and mitigating the collapse at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. The collapse happened in the building's northwest office.

Crews have been cleaning up debris, drying out the water-damaged areas, and water-proofing the site with tarps. Crews also added wooden support beams to the outside of the building to improve safety.

The city sent the building owner and affected business an evacuation order on Wednesday. ABC 17 News obtained the order through an open records request. According to that order, the building was deemed unsafe and is "not to be occupied until the building is made structurally sound."

The mitigation stage is expected to be completed this weekend. Following this step, members of the city and structural engineers will come in to plan general repairs and calculate the construction budget.

ABC Environmental Contracting General Manager Tracy Goodman is confident in repairing the building.

"Believe it or not, for what it is, it's nothing crazy," Goodman said. "The water spread throughout the floor and things like that, this is normal for everyday business for us."

Nearby businesses were unscathed from the collapse.

Billiards on Broadway recorded security footage of the collapse. The restaurant was closed at the time for floor renovations. Next door, Living Canvas Tattoo and Body Piercing was also closed at the time of the initial collapse.

Seth Sobba, Living Canvas' front desk attendant, was surprised Wednesday morning when he pulled into the alley to park his car.

"I was trying to pull into the back and lo and behold, I saw a bunch of debris all over the ground. It kind of looked like the building had been struck by a bomb," Sobba said.

The alley is blocked off to cars and pedestrians until the construction is complete.

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