Firefighters secure roof at Jackson and Washington streets

Greencastle firefighters spent part of Monday afternoon helping to secure the damaged roof structure at the old Central National Bank building at Jackson and Washington streets.

Some of the building's cornice at the top of the west wall was torn away during the overnight storms of Jan. 29 and 30.

Owner Trudy Selvia said she noticed the damage when she arrived at work on the morning of Jan. 30. Building occupants also noticed stains from water leaking down the inside of the building's western walls and windows.

Pell Roofing and Siding Co. was contacted that morning to inspect and repair the damage. Unfortunately, ongoing unpredictable weather has limited the roofers' efforts.

When Pell workers noticed Monday afternoon that the issues with the cornice had gotten worse, they contacted GFD and city building inspector Dave Varvel for assistance.

Varvel told the Banner Graphic that without securing the piece, the design of the structure would have caused pieces of the cornice to continue to fall away until they reached the south end of the building.

Firefighters Donnie Watson and Kyle App went up in the department's aerial truck to secure the cornice.

GFD was on the scene for just short of an hour on Monday.

The work by the firefighters, along with ongoing efforts by Pell, should leave the roof temporarily secure. Parking along northbound Jackson Street next to the building will remain closed during the current work.

Pell workers continued to work on the roof Tuesday, attempting to get it secure.

"They're on the roof today," Selvia said Tuesday. "We should be back in the dry."

Selvia said once the building is secured in the short term, a long-term roofing solution will be pursued.

The building's height and location left it especially susceptible to the strong westerly wind gusts Greencastle experienced during last week's storm. Not only is it three stories, the terrain falls away to the west, leaving nothing to break the wind before it hits the building.

These factors also make working on the roof difficult. Jackson Street also slopes down to the south, making it difficult to set up any sort of crane adjacent to the building.

"The hill, and it being three stories obviously creates an issue," Selvia said.

She added that the building had showed no signs of roof damage prior to last week.

"Everything was good before that," Selvia said. "That wind was terrible."