Re: (rshsdepot) Cleveland, OH roundhouse collapses

["Paul Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>]

Nice reconstruction/demolition work on the part of that lumber company
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Alexander D. Mitchell IV" <LNER4472_@_bcpl.net>
To: <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 5:25 PM
Subject: (rshsdepot) Cleveland, OH roundhouse collapses


>
>
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1065519181190
700.xml
>
> Railroad museum plans derailed
> 10/07/03
> Brian E. Albrecht
> Plain Dealer Reporter
>
> Plans by the Midwest Railway Preservation Society to build a railroad
museum
> in a historic roundhouse in Cleveland jumped the tracks last week when an
> interior wall and part of the roof collapsed after demolition work in the
> building.
> A portion of the 1½-acre former B&O Railroad roundhouse on West Third
> Street, built in 1905 and expanded in 1917, is owned by CSX Railroad,
which
> has rented space to the society to restore vintage railroad engines and
> cars.
>
> The rest of the building belongs to the Northern Ohio Lumber and Timber
Co.,
> which acquired the space last year to relocate its business from Carter
Road
> in the Flats.
> Bill Brown, society president, said that after demolition on Sept. 25 by a
> contractor that Northern Ohio hired to clear the way for construction of a
> sawmill, a load-bearing wall that was not intended to be part of the
> demolition and a portion of the roof collapsed.
> An exterior wall fell two days later, dropping as cleanly as if it had
been
> chopped by a machete, Brown said.
> There were no injuries, and no damage to the society's rolling stock in
> either incident, he added.
> Brown said the city has since condemned the entire former roundhouse, one
of
> only two left in the state, and the society has moved its 1919 Mikado
steam
> locomotive outdoors to avoid damage from any further collapse.
> The engine, one of only six left in the nation, once pulled passengers on
> the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, and is being restored by the
> 82-volunteer Preservation Society.
> A coach that appeared in the Robert Redford film "The Natural" remains
> inside the building.
> Brown said an architect and structural engineer hired by the group
reported
> at an emergency trustees meeting last week that the cost just to stabilize
> the roundhouse could run upwards of $1 million. A more detailed
> architectural study is being prepared, and Brown said he will be meeting
> with city officials to discuss possible options for the building's future.
> The nonprofit society had hoped to use $290,000 in city grants and a
> fund-raising campaign to buy parts of the roundhouse from CSX and Northern
> Ohio Lumber and turn them into an interactive railroad museum.
> Now, "we don't know what the hell we're going to do," Brown said. "What
has
> been a long, time-consuming and complicated project has just become more
> complicated."
> Brown said the society has been supported by Northern Ohio Lumber on the
> project.
> The support will continue, according to Virgel Zanick, Northern Ohio
Lumber
> president, who said the firm had previously worked with the society,
trying
> to salvage the roundhouse, but believes the walls are structurally
unsound.
> He said parts of their relocation plans will now be delayed, but the firm
> will still move to the new site this year.
> Brown said that despite the incident, "we're going to continue our mission
> to repair and restore this stuff," outdoors if need be.
> He's optimistic that one way or another, someday there will be a museum.
> "We're just a bunch of gearheads and gandy dancers who're determined to
find
> a way to save this thing," Brown said. "We'll pull the whole thing down
and
> put it back together brick by brick if that's what it takes."
> To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
> balbrecht_@_plaind.com, 216-999-4853
>
>
> =================================
> The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #767
*******************************

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org