NEVADA, Mo. — New owners are left to pick up the pieces after another building collapses on the Nevada town square.
Around 5:00 a.m. Friday morning, Nevada Building Inspector Karl Trued got word about the Grand Central Building collapsing on West Walnut Street.
“Our city manager, Mark Mitchell, sent me a text, and I kind of didn’t answer it because I was driving. But then after I got to City Hall, I checked it out and I saw the front of the building had fallen,” said Karl Trued, City of Nevada Building Inspector.
Trued tells us earlier this year he noticed damage to a column that divided the building.
“All these buildings, they kind of help support one another. And when you lose one, you’re dealing with like the interior brick walls now being exposed to the elements and just over time, the deterioration. If you don’t keep up on them, you’re going to have issues,” said Trued.
He tells us a dangerous building hearing was held in April.
“So the property owners were given a time frame to start the repairs. We kind of ran into the issues of getting a contractor on-site and, you know, the normal getting somebody here to do the job,” said Trued.
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Trued says that resulted in the building being sold to a Nevada City Council member.
“He bought it with the hopes of salvaging the building and keeping the square, you know beautified,” said Trued.
No injuries were reported, but Trued tells us safety is still a concern.
“Still a lot of concern with that west wall. But they’re doing what they can now. They’ve got the IBM on the west side, and it’s great stuff to help kind of support that,” said Trued.
Trued explains this isn’t the first time he has encountered a building collapsing since he was hired, referencing an incident from 2020.
“That was a nightmare, too. And that was another case to where the building in between had collapsed in the past that was removed. And now you have the interior walls exposed to the elements. And just over time it gave way to just an unfortunate event,” said Trued.
We spoke to the new owner at the scene who declined to go on camera but told us plans were already in place to demolish the front of the building during Thanksgiving week.
