The front portion of a brick warehouse at 1433 Circle Ave. has been demolished after the property’s roof fractured on July 25, according to Steve Glinke, director of the village’s Department of Public Health and Safety.
“It was well done by all parties,” Glinke said. “No one was injured, there wasn’t any unpredictable building damage to either side of the adjacent properties.”
Glinke said the property owner called him about noon that day, saying that he was in the building and that the front of the brick warehouse had bowed out. The building is owned by a company called 10 Sixty Technologies LLC, which purchased the property in March 2014 for $300,000, according to Cook County property records. 10 Sixty Technologies did not immediately respond to an interview request.
Glinke, along with Fire Chief Bob McDermott and Public Works Director John Doss, visited the site and saw a fracture in the ceiling truss. They called a truss repair company to make an assessment, and that firm determined “there wasn’t much we could do in terms of temporary relief to the fracture.”
“As we were standing there, the front wall came to push out more and more. Termination had to be made,” Glinke said, adding that the building was also “creaking and making noises, which is an early indicator of catastrophic failure.”
“How this could happen on a sunny day with no wind, no snow on the roof, isn’t something I’m qualified to comment on,” he added.
The village turned off the building’s gas and electrical service, evacuated neighboring businesses and ordered Quality Demolition to complete a partial demolition of the front portion of the building. Either 10 Sixty Technologies or its insurance firm will pay for the demolition.
Glinke estimated approximately 2,000 square feet of the approximately 21,000-square-foot building was demolished. He said that portion was leased by a separate company whose identity he didn’t know. He said there was a trailer, some car parts and a car inside the space, along with “a lot” of boxes on pallets.
“Anything as detailed as damage estimates are going to be a function of the insurance settlements,” Glinke said.
Friday morning, Glinke said a structural engineer from the village’s engineering firm, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, inspected the building’s existing ceiling trusses, and said they felt “comfortable with their integrity.” Glinke said the condition of the building is currently stable.
The next step will be for the owner to “pretty quickly” construct a temporary wall or diagonal bracing to reinforce the property.
“It’s going to be a long time before this issue gets resolved with insurance claims. They’re going to have to get rid of rubble, remove contents [and] put temporary shoring in,” Glinke said. “It’s going to be a while.”
