An Official Press Release was issued from the office of the City Manager on Tuesday, July 21 regarding a structural collapse at 597 North Central Avenue. City Management is in the process of working to implement a plan that will ensure safety.
See link at end of Press Release to download a PDF copy. Press Release to follow:
July 21, 2015
William R. Whitson, City Manger
wwhitson@hapeville.org
Cell (678) 613-6478
3:00PM
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, July 21, 2015, at approximately 9:07AM the City of Hapeville received a call about a structural collapse at 597 North Central Avenue, Hapeville, GA 30354. The City’s contractor, Diversified Construction, was engaged in renovation activity at this location. This facility is a historic building circa 1910.
At the time of the collapse, workers were on the roof and escaped with two minor injuries that were treated and released on-scene. Hapeville Fire and Police Departments then secured the scene at approximately at 10:00AM.
City Management is now in the process of working with our structural engineer and architect team as well as other effected parties to implement a plan that will ensure the safety of the public and respond to the clean-up and business needs of the community.
Mayor, Alan Hallman, stated, “We are fortunate that no life threatening injuries or loss of life took place. The City will recover fully from this setback and we would appreciate the full cooperation of our citizens in avoiding this area during the clean-up process.”
The City Manager, William Whitson, is serving as incident command on the scene and further stated that traffic on North Central Avenue will be closed until further notice in the area as follows:
Road traffic is closed from Perkins to Dogwood; and
Foot traffic from North Fulton to one block east of the incident.
He stated further, our team is focused on safety first for the public and the businesses located in this area. The businesses at the following locations are closed until further notice:
603 N Central – Volare
601 N Central – Drip
599 N Central – Academy
597 N Central – Collapsed Building
591 N Central – Fracht USA
589-87 N Central – Beer Girl
585 N Central
In conclusion, City teams will be working around the clock to secure this area ensure the public safety and supervise the clean-up efforts. The clean-up operation will be done carefully and in a very methodical way to avoid further injury. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact incident command on the scene or the City Manager. Mr. Whitson concluded, “it is our hope that the clean-up efforts can be completed by tomorrow afternoon pending weather and safety concerns.”
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