Demolition of ‘dangerous’ building begins

Speedee Print was open for business in downtown Hannibal Friday morning, but as Allen Ballard processed copies for a customer he admitted he couldn’t help but think of the demolition work under way next door at 520 Broadway.
“Do I close my business?” asked Ballard. “I’ve a lot of work to get out today.”
Plywood had been placed on Speedee Print’s roof to protect it from any random bricks that might fall. But it was the threat of a brick tsunami that had Ballard concerned enough that he sent his son, Ken, who had the day off from school, to the library.
“They’ve told me that if something went wrong and the roof came down, the wall would kick out on me,” he said.
Don Martin, the contractor for the demolition project, acknowledged that the threat of a collapse is very real.
“It’s a very serious threat. We’re trying to be just as careful as we can. We’re taking every precaution necessary that we have available to us. We’re just going to do it one piece at a time and try to use as much knowledge as we have to get this thing down without hurting anyone or anything,” he said.
The building, which was condemned by the city in early October, is “very dangerous,” said Martin.
“It is so old and deteriorated,” he said. “Part of the roof has already fallen in. Part of the floor on the second floor has fallen in so it’s putting a lot of pressure on the other building, where it’s connected to the sides of the brick walls.”
Martin had a strategy mapped out for bringing down the three-story structure that was constructed in the late 1800s.
“We’re just going to start at the rear of the building, take all the old wooden porch off, trying to get some pressure off of that. Then we’ll take it down a piece at a time, a brick at a time, and work our way toward the front of the building, and pray and hope for the best,” he said.
Martin has until the end of the year to complete the project.
“We hope to be done before that time, but if it takes that long we’re willing to spend the time to do it and be safe,” he said.