FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - A historic Alaska temple, which had stood in Fairbanks for more than 100 years, was demolished after the roof caved in.
Half of the roof of the Masonic Temple collapsed Saturday afternoon to the second-story floor. Demolition crews were only able to save the “1906” and “Masonic Temple” signs, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported .
A combination of age and dry rot likely crippled the temple, city engineer Robert Pristash said.
“It made it through all the winters before,” he said. “Eventually it just weakens and cracks, weakens and cracks a little bit more.”
The lack of a vapor barrier also added to the possibility of dry rot, Pristash added.
City officials decided the temple was a danger to the public, City of Fairbanks spokesman Teal Soden said.
No one was injured in the collapse, but employees from an adjacent restaurant had been inside the building just 30 minutes before the incident.
Originally constructed as the Tanana Commercial Company Store, the Masonic Temple was built in 1906.
The temple had been vacant for the last decade. Fairbanks businessman Harold Groetsema bought the structure in 2006 with plans to renovate the building as a banquet hall. But he had been stymied by structural problems from the foundation to the roof, Groetsema told the News-Miner in 2014.
Groetsema said he’s just happy no one was hurt. But he had mixed feelings on the building’s demolition.
“One, It’s an old building, it would have cost a lot of money to fix it,” he said. “Two, it’s a part of Fairbanks.”
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
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