City To Enforce Building Codes More Strictly
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Last week’s collapse of a historic building in Greenfield had many other West Tennessee towns looking at their own historic buildings. The city of Huntingdon like Greenfield has several historical buildings, some even more than 100 years old. “We have a very historical town. We were chartered in 1822,” said Mayor Dale Kelley. Legends Little Italy Pizzeria collapsed in downtown Greenfield last Monday, killing one man. Huntingdon officials say they could not help but worry the same thing could happen in their town. “Greenfield was a terrible tragedy. We want to make sure that something of that nature doesn’t happen in the town of Huntingdon,” said Mayor Kelley. Huntingdon officials said the incident in Greenfield has motivated them to look into old buildings downtown and check buildings that have already met city codes. “We look for things like termites infestation and evidence that there’s been a leak for a long time,maybe from the roof, ” said Building Codes Enforcement Officer Randle Crossett. Mayor Dale Kelley said older buildings tend to suffer from wear and tear over the years, weakening the foundation of its structure. “We have made a concerted effort to go over a period of time to make sure that we rid the community of those structures that are unsafe and unsightly,” said Kelley. Some of those structures include old brick homes that do not currently meet city code. That is why officials plan to expand their review of downtown structures to single home units
