Flat Iron falls

You are currently viewing Flat Iron falls

By Matthew Saari

As the Whitehall Village Board was proceeding with steps to demolish the decrepit building at 160 Main treet – known as the Flat Iron  –  the structure collapsed on its own about noon last Sunday.

The notorious Flat Iron building prior to Sunday’s collapse.

The board met last Tuesday to address the question of asbestos as part of the process of taking ownership of the building and ultimately demolishing it.

“All I could see was smoke billowing around it,” said West Street resident Darrell Russell when the structure fell. “I didn’t even hear it.”

What Russell saw was the aftermath of the west side of the Flat Iron – which overlooks the Amtrak station – finally giving out and collapsing.

Sally Raino, owner of Freakopolis Geekery, was returning from an errand to Putorti’s Broadway Market when she saw the building’s dusty fallout.

“It looked like smoke down the street,” she said. “When I got closer I realized it was dust from the building collapsing…it wafted eastward, across Main Street, across the canal.”

Most of the debris fell westward with only a small portion falling toward the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Company’s firehouse directly across the street. Village Department of Public Works foreman Steve Brock said the previously placed concrete barricades prevented that debris from falling into the roadway. Regardless, the fire company relocated its trucks to be safe.

No injuries were reported and railway traffic continued unimpeded by the collapse.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.