Bricks start to bow out of some downtown Elyria buildings

ELYRIA — Fluctuating temperatures this winter have caused bricks in several unoccupied buildings in downtown Elyria to bow. Multiple buildings on Broad Street have bricks protruding. Assistant Safety Service Director Kevin Brubaker said the city is aware of those buildings and has been in conversation with the owner. Currently, no bricks are falling from the buildings. The rear of the buildings abut Depot Street, which remains open. "We have a good owner that's willing to make the repairs and we're monitoring it to make sure no bricks fall," Brubaker said. " ... The owner is looking into it. Unfortunately, when you have those old buildings, you have that freeze and thaw." Brubaker said an inspector would go out Monday to see what violations are there and how they can be addressed. He said the owner is getting quotes and looking into a fix. According to Lorain County Auditor records, the worst of the bowed-out brick buildings, 371 Broad St. with the back of the building at 368 Depot St., is owned by a limited liability corporation with a P.O. Box in Grafton, which is the same P.O. Box listed for the owner of the Foundry Kitchen & Bar, Kevin Flanigan. Another building with some bowed-out bricks, 346 Broad St., is owned by Elder Jamil, according to the Lorain County Auditor's site. Assistant Fire Chief Joe Pronesti said the Fire Department also is keeping an eye on the buildings. "I keep up on looking at the downtown buildings," he said. "A fire in those buildings are a tactical challenge. I've always been a student of fighting fires in those kinds of buildings." Many of the buildings in downtown Elyria are over a hundred years old and were built in the style of "unreinforced masonry construction," which typically means brick walls with no steel reinforcing bars embedded between them. After World War II, that type of construction stopped. If a fire started in one of the buildings, Pronesti said there's a possibility it could collapse, but the Fire Department has deemed them no entry buildings based on safety concerns. "It's hard to say," Pronesti said. "We match our attack on the amount of fire on arrival and in those type of buildings that fire can travel very, very fast. That type of era and that type of construction, fire travels very fast. ... We know our job. It's the freezing and thawing that causes those bricks to look like that." After a period of time, Pronesti said those buildings are just like people — with age, they start to break down. And many of those buildings are 120 years old, if not older. This isn't the first time bricks have started to bow or fall in downtown Elyria. In January, Merchant's Alley between Kerstetter Way and Washington Avenue was shut down due to bricks falling. That area is still barricaded off from the public. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com