More buildings to be knocked down following Adams Street Fire

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - It's been eight months since a massive fire on Adams Street and the roadway is still closed. City officials said it will remain that way until some of the neighboring buildings can be torn down. 

So far, the building located at 413/415 Adams Street, which once housed Cafe Moxo, has been torn down. While 411 has been stabilized and should remain standing, the building next door 417 and its neighbor 421 will be knocked down to the first floor. 

"It's very difficult because none of these structures were designed to be standalone, and when you lose a building, then all of a sudden you have buildings that remain on each side that have to be modified, just to stay standing," said Michael Flynn, Building Code Official with the City of Springfield. "A structural engineer decided that, 417 and 421, that the upper floors had sustained significant damage and those needed to be demolished." 

That demolition is the next step for the Adams Street construction zone, but it won't include large machinery or a wrecking ball. Because the buildings are over 100 years old, the demolition team will be basically dismantling the building floor by floor until it is structurally sound again. 

"They have to be very careful," said Flynn. "A modern building would have a steel frame where you can kind of just dismantle everything else around it, then remove the steel skeleton. That's not the case here. Everything that's there is actually part of the structural and holds everything up." 

Flynn said the owner of both the 417 and 421 buildings plan to make the first floor of the building a parking garage. The Springfield Historic Sites Commission did place some restrictions on the process. The original bricks must be saved and used for the facade on the first floor. 

The city is estimating that the process will take a few months to complete. They are hoping to re-open the street at that time. 

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