OZARK, MO — A building collapses all on its own.
It happened in Jericho with Joshua in the Old Testament in something B.C.
On Thursday morning, December 29, 2022, a calm day, it happened on the square in Ozark.
No earthquake. No tornado. No object striking it. No bombs. Not even the big, bad wolf.
But them walls came a tumblin’ down nonetheless!
Hannah Vale, owner of Adventure Coffee Company just east of the License Bureau on the north side of the square, got a call from a hysterical employee around 8:42 a.m. Thursday.
“She told me the wall just came crashing down,” Vale told the CCT. “Someone at the License Bureau said it sounded like an explosion.”
Vale, whose experience includes being on staff at Grace Church, was instrumental in starting up Travellers Coffee in Springfield, and co-hosts a podcast with husband Jeff, had never seen anything like it.
A pile of bricks. An exposed wall on a historic two-story building that had always been there since anyone could remember.
Upstairs, a couple’s apartment, living room exposed to the outside world. Christmas tree. Sofa.
Downstairs, Adventure Coffee Shop, experiencing more adventure than any business ever should.
People gathered to watch. Police put yellow tape around the scene. Crews on hand to watch the falling rubble and protect the public.
The block was shut down, including the License Bureau and Iguana Roja Mexican restaurant.
“Yesterday, we got a call that our coffee shop building collapsed,” Jeff said on the podcast he and Hannah produce on Friday. The podcast is called Two Coffees and an Argument.
“I got a call from Megan at the coffee shop at 8:42 a.m. She never calls. We text,” Hannah said on the podcast. “The coffee shop is collapsing!” she told Hannah.
Jeff and Hannah live minutes away from the shop.
The front of the building fell off, Jeff said. It was the oldest building in town. “When we leased it, there was some waviness to a wall. The city had inspected it.”
Big, fat, ugly cover-up when a building collapses?
Here are some questions that arise:
How did this old building get approved for multiple sales over the years?
How did it pass yearly inspections?
Who does inspections for the city of Ozark?
Will the other historic buildings on the square need to be inspected?
Who will do the inspecting, if so? The same company that “inspected” the building that fell down voluntarily without a storm or a heavy object striking it?”
“Waviness in the wall?” What? Okay, so a couple lives upstairs and is okay with a wavy wall?
Count your blessings when a building collapses!
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Several people were inside the coffee shop when it became part of the great outdoors, but they weren’t standing up front where the action was.
Another blessing: The people who lived upstairs were out of town. Plus, the tenant renting office space in the building was out.
A coffee shop regular that normally sits in the same spot where rubble fell was later than usual and avoided disaster.
But what if he hadn’t been late? What if he’d been killed or seriously injured? Who would cover him? And what would the outcome be? What public outcry would there be?
Why put business owners and tenants at risk?
“The building is condemned. We aren’t allowed in,” the Vales said on their podcast Friday.
Thanks to the Ozark Fire Department
Jeff and Hannah are quick to point out that the Ozark Fire Department rescued some of their expensive equipment, including an expensive espresso machine. They didn’t have to do that. They risked their safety to do so, Jeff said.
Awesome.
But, what about the License Bureau and Iguana Roja restaurant? They have to close their doors and lose money and inconvenience patrons because the city closed off the section of buildings.
Now what?
Steve Childers it the Ozark City Engineer. He was on the scene Friday. I wonder what he’s gonna do?
I feel like the Wicked Witch of the East in the Wizard of Oz. Hope a building don’t fall down on my head!
The level with the bubble before all the rubble!
I can just see the city inspector now. He’s got an old school level with the bubble in the middle. He’s got it pressed against the outside wavy wall. He has to duct tape the level down to make it conform the wavy exterior.
“Yep,” he says to Steve Childers. “Close enough for (Ozark city) government work.”
