More Details Released In Greenfield Building Collapse
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Just one day after a building in Greenfield collapsed, 7 Eyewitness News took a look at what is being done to prevent another such tragedy in the future. On Tuesday, structural engineers were on hand in downtown Greenfield to survey the portion of the building that survived Monday’s collapse. Keith Tucker, who owns the building that collapsed, was at the scene since 9 a.m. inspecting the damage. “We really didn’t let the building just go down and fall in,” Tucker said. “We made a lot of effort over the last few years to keep the building up to date. It’s got a new electrical system, new plumbing.” And Tucker said that remodeling was the result of the building’s last inspection, which was three years ago when the Legends Little Italy Pizzeria first moved into the building. But why not since? “Nothing had been brought to our attention as far as safety is concerned, so we had no reason to go back in and inspect,” Greenfield Mayor Eddie McKelvy said. But since the collapse, two structural engineers hired by the city inspected the middle block, and later allowed the businesses next door to re-open, saying it was safe to occupy the building. Officials said other merchants downtown have indicated they would also like to be inspected. As for Tucker, he said he would not have let anyone in or near the building if he thought it was not safe. “I was out here Sunday night looking at it because I knew they were working on it next door and so I looked at the building,” Tucker said. “I didn’t see anything amiss then.” Officials said it could take one to two weeks before they will hear back from the engineers on how the building collapsed. Investigators said they are still waiting on reports from the hospital on Renardo Jackson’s exact cause of death.
