CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — A stretch of businesses along Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights are closed after a sudden building collapse Wednesday afternoon.
The partial collapse is the second in Cleveland Heights in the course of a month. On Aug. 18, a building partially collapsed near the intersection of Cedar Road and Fairmount Boulevard.
Crews worked Wednesday and Thursday to clean up debris on Mayfield Road after the front facade of a building in the 3900 block crumbled onto the sidewalk below.
“My initial response was concern for anyone that could have gotten hurt or possibly been hurt,” said Claude Carson, owner of Kulture Ultra Lounge.
Carson arrived Wednesday to see the damage, finding piles of warped material.
The sidewalks are now clean and gates have been erected to block people from the front of the building. Storefronts are also covered with “Notice to Vacate” papers, temporarily preventing businesses from operating as a structural engineer compiles a report on the structures’ safety.
“It’s devastating,” said Carson. “You know, we’re already dealing with a very tight market. Times are very challenging in this kind of business.”
Eric Elmi, building commissioner for the city of Cleveland Heights, says both the Mayfield Road and Fairmount Boulevard collapses were caused by a combination of factors including old buildings and a lack of maintenance.
“Buildings, structures are like anything else. Cars, for example, they need maintenance. If you don’t maintain a car, eventually it will break down,” said Elmi.
Elmi says the Building and Law Departments for the city are working together to create an ordinance that would require owners of older buildings to routinely hire licensed inspectors to assess structures.
If passed by the city council, Elmi is hopeful the ordinance could lead to greater public safety.
“Our responsibility, our job is to make sure we create enough necessary ordinances that we have to follow to make sure those incidents don’t happen again,” said Elmi.
While the ordinance is still being drafted, Elmi says it would likely require business owners to hire a third-party licensed structural engineer to inspect their properties every 2 or 3 years and then submit those findings to the city.