A building partially collapsed on the west side of California's downtown square last week, California Mayor Rich Green told the Democrat on Friday.
Late Thursday night, the back side of the building formerly occupied by Ham-Bones Bar & Grill collapsed straight down into the alleyway behind the building; the collapse resulted in no injuries, as the building had been evacuated prior to last week.
Green said the collapse took out an old electrical service line, which the city had repaired as of last week. The street was closed off last week, and Green said Friday it appeared to be a secure situation.
Green said the building's owners had previously had the building looked at by an independently hired engineer, which they then notified the city about. He said the city does not have any information about the engineer's report for that reason, just the verbal notification from the owners that the building appeared to be in imminent danger of collapse.
"Where we go from here, we don't know," Green said. "(Are) the owners of the building (going to try) to restore it, is it restorable? We simply do not know, it's too early."
The Board of Aldermen met last week so board members could be brought in the loop regarding the issue, but the city did not take any action since the building is private property. Green said last week the owners and the city are each assessing options for future action, hoping for a resolution in the coming months.
Green said he's hopeful the building could be salvaged, especially since it's a part of the downtown square's historic district.
"I'm a geologist, not a structural engineer, but it does appear to me that it's possible that it could be saved," Green said.