Former Perdock building collapses

    Church services were interrupted Sunday morning by a crash coming from the former Perdock Auto building on West Washington Street. Onlookers investigated the sound to find the building?s roof collapsed and a hole nearly 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall on the west side of the building facing South Avenue B. Bricks spilled into the sidewalk and street and even onto a bus parked nearby. No injuries have been reported from the collapse. Both lanes of traffic on South Avenue B are closed and foot traffic is prohibited in the area.

    Jackie Tebockhorst lives west of the Perdock building on South B Avenue and was in her home at the time of the collapse, which occurred at approximately 11:20 a.m.

    ?I ran to the window, and I saw the bus was parked there,? said Tebockhorst. ?At first, I thought the bus hit the building. I didn?t see the big hole because the bus was in the way. I just saw all the debris on the road. Then I realized the bus must not have hit the building because it was parked straight.?

    Todd McInville drives a bus for the Marion Avenue Baptist Church and was standing in the church parking lot when he heard the roof cave in. 

    ?My first thought was to call Dan Woodward (the bus director),? said McInville. ?Dan came running out of the church and took control of the situation.?

    McInville drives the very bus that was damaged by the falling bricks. The bus reportedly sustained damage to its windshield and roof.

    Marion Avenue Baptist Church has owned the building for the past three years. Woodward said the buses are normally parked south of the church, but when there isn?t room a bus may be parked west of the Perdock building.

    The building that collapsed was built in 1917. Bill Perdock owned the building for many years before selling it to Marion Avenue Baptist Church in early 2008. He said he was not aware of any problems with the roof when he owned the building.

    Woodward said he had no reason to think the building was structurally unsound. He said there was nothing of much value in the building except for props used in the church?s Christmas program.

    ?I?m just looking at the building now, thinking, ?What are we going to do??? said Woodward.

    Marion Avenue Baptist Church Pastor Larry Brown was in the main auditorium of the church at the time of the collapse. He said word of the crash came as a surprise to those who were inside the church.

    ?No one in the building was aware of it until I was given a note at the end of the service telling me that the building collapsed,? said Brown. ?There was no vibration and no sound. The first thing that went through my mind was the first thing out of my mouth, which was ?Is anybody hurt?? They said no one was hurt, so I was thankful for that.?

    Brown said there was no indication the building was in danger of collapse, and if there had been the church would have remedied the problem. Brown said he had not yet surveyed the damage but remarked that even from the outside he could tell it was extensive. He said the building did not contain many valuable items and was used mainly for storage.

For the full story, see the Aug. 9 edition of The Washington Evening Journal