Demolition process begins after part of Milwaukee's National Warehouse Corp. building collapses
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Contractors are starting the demolition process after part of a 101-year-old building collapsed Monday night, Aug. 31, in Milwaukee's Harbor District.
An emergency raze order was filed for a section of the National Warehouse Corporation Building on Bruce and Water Street after the exterior wall first collapsed around noon Monday, impacting three stories of the building.
According to Milwaukee's Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS), the property owners secured HM Brandt as a contractor Tuesday afternoon to demolish the structure.
Contractors immediately set up at the site Tuesday afternoon, misting the structure to suppress dust.
Fencing was put up Tuesday morning to keep people away from the area.
A portion of Water Street was closed to traffic and pedestrians for most of Monday and Tuesday. The street re-opened Tuesday around 4 p.m.
CBS 58 was the only station with cameras rolling when the collapse happened Monday night just before 7 p.m., affecting all seven stories.
Officials said no one was hurt, calling the building vacant; however, a source tells CBS 58 part of the structure was still being used as rented warehouse space.
The collapsed property is connected to an office building to the east, which was occupied at the time of the collapse and had to be evacuated.
According to DNS, the east building is not part of the scope of demolition, but it is not currently safe to enter.
"My building is supposedly fine, but if that thing was to collapse, that's a lot of energy and you can't be anywhere near it," said Jimmy Bultman, the owner of MKE Bike Tour, which operates out of the east office building.
Bultman told CBS 58 he had to cancel several tours this week after the collapse next door. He's hopeful he will be able to go back inside that building soon.
"I'm a very small business, but it's my income, so of course it's impacting me, but I've been told that they're going to demolish this thing and get it away in a week, which sounds amazing," he said.
The Department of Neighborhood Services has not put a timeline on the demolition but said it is likely to move quickly once all emergency permits are approved, which could happen by Wednesday.