Liberty Street still closed after Saturday roof collapse

The street corner at Jefferson and Liberty Streets in Morris is still closed on Wednesday.

The corner of Liberty and Jefferson streets in Morris still was blocked off Wednesday after the building on the southwest corner’s roof collapsed Saturday morning.

Community affairs director Stan Knudson said Wednesday that the city of Morris hopes to have the street open again by the weekend.

A building in downtown Morris collapsed Saturday morning with the residents of the upstairs apartments still inside.

The city of Morris is investigating whether the rest of the building can be occupied.

The roof of 322 Liberty St. at the corner of Jefferson and Liberty streets collapsed on the northern edge, spilling brick and debris into the road and forcing local officials to close off that portion of Jefferson Street.

The street corner at Jefferson and Liberty Streets in Morris is still closed on Wednesday.

Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Wilson said all residents and workers in the buildings made it out safely.

The fire department evacuated the rest of the building down the block for everyone’s safety since multiple officers and firefighters reported the smell of gas.

The cause of the collapse is not yet known.

The building is home to three apartments on the top floor, the Roth Jorstad Insurance Agency and Dr. Johnson Pediatrics on the ground floor.

Jim Kidonakis of the band Scott Sanders and Jimmy K stood outside with his helper addressing storm repairs on a different building across Liberty Street when they heard a huge bang.

Just saw part of a building collapse while I was walking…

Posted by Jim Kidonakis on Saturday, January 13, 2024

“All of a sudden, a bunch of bricks and a big chunk of roof dropped, making a plume of dust,” Kidonakis said. “We called 911 right away.”

Wilson said the fate of the buildings now is in the hands of the city of Morris and the engineers from Chamlin and Associates. Chamlin has engineers going through the building to test its stability to see if it’s safe for future use.

Bricks and remains of the collapsed roof at 322 Liberty St. in Morris.

“We’re seeing if they can actually use the two apartments,” Wilson said. “The one apartment on the corner was the one that suffered a lot of damage. We’re proceeding safely.”

Wilson said there’s a lot of speculation as to what caused the collapse. Some of his firefighters smelled a slight gas odor, while others assumed it was caused by the heavy ice and snow from the weekend’s storm.

Wilson said the rest of the block was deemed safe for everyone to return to, and the side of the building that sustained the most damage has its power, water and natural gas shut off.

Michael Urbanec

Michael Urbanec

Michael Urbanec covers Grundy County and the City of Morris, Coal City, Minooka, and more for the Morris Herald-News