Sunday feature: Can the building on Washington and Lincoln be saved?
by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — Wellington city building inspector Richard Jack is hopeful the building on the corner of Washington and Lincoln in Wellington can be saved. It is more than 100 years old, and has held up well, but recently serious problems developed. So much so that it could fall down, city officials say.
Either the owners, or the city, will very soon get a company to come from Wichita to do some stabilization work that should keep it from falling down.
Jack said the top popped out and it started collapsing, and it happened quickly. The owners notified the city, and the tenant, and roped the building off.
“This and that happened all of a sudden for whatever reason,” he said. Jack said he was not saying earthquakes caused the damage, but it could have been a factor.
The owners had done some good work on the building, including putting in a new roof, but Jack said things can happen to cause an old building to deteriorate rapidly, which is what happened in this case.
At the city council meeting last Tuesday city officials said they want to save the building if at all possible. It has many of the original fixtures, and for the most part the building itself is sound. It is just that the southeast corner has started to have problems and is in danger of collapsing.
At the meeting Jack said the building would not likely fall that day, but it could within a month if drastic actions are not taken immediately. The street is still blocked off as a safety precaution.
Construction on the building was started in 1903 and was finished in 1910. There are several buildings of that age, or older, in the downtown area. There is also concern about them as time goes on.
Jack said the city keeps an eye on them, and looks to see if there is damage that could be structural in nature.
“Other than being 100 years old, and with deferred maintenance they seem sound,” he said.
Some do have cracks here and there though, and Jack said people putting off maintenance to buildings is a concern because they will only get worse.
On the building in question, Jack said an engineer found a picture from 2015 that showed some cracks. Now there is bowing of the supports in that area, and that is what has caused the building to be dangerous.
He said buildings can develop structural damage almost overnight if maintenance is not done on them.
While it may or may not have been made worse by the earthquakes Wellington has had over the last years, heavy rains and strong winds could also be contributing factors.
“You start getting a door that won’t close anymore, or a couple of cracks. It does not take much after that, Jack said. It causes a little more damage, you get some rain and all of a sudden it is bad. The forces of nature can cause problems at any time,” he said.
The building itself is rather large, with three floors. At the meeting last Tuesday, Jack said the building could fall in such a way that would damage other buildings, or it could just crumble on itself. It would be very expensive to tear the building down and the city would be left with another vacant lot.
Doing the stabilization work that Jack has in mind will cost $2,000 or so, and that is a temporary fix. More stabilization will have to be done, but if it is stabilized, it can then be used again most likely.
Jack said it was a real dilemma because the inside of the building is very nice.
Early next week he will get the stabilization work, if the owners do not do so before that. The street will still be closed off at least partially for a time, until the city figures out what to do about the overall building beyond emergency stabilization.
At present there is a real danger. He said it is possible the building could fall down with a strong storm, or another small earthquake.
The stabilization involves putting steel beams into the ground that will have plates attached. The plates will hold the walls in place for awhile.
