'Like a small earthquake': Witnesses shaken by beam falling on building in Bethlehem during garage show, historic district fears grow | Lehigh Valley Regional News

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Demolition of a Walnut Street garage in Bethlehem has now been put on hold, after an unfortunate incident occurred Friday morning. When part of the garage fell, a large beam ended up hitting the building next door.

A temporary repair was added to this roof to ensure that water did not reach the building.

69 News spoke with a woman who happened to have pressed “record” minutes before all this happened, and then was stunned when she saw the collapse for herself.

Melis Carroll captured video of the Walnut Street Garage demolition while taking her children to school. Everything seemed normal.

Minutes later, at about 8:15 a.m., she saw what the weather camera had captured, but with her own eyes.

“They were just kind of falling apart, when the whole level collapsed on each other and kind of collapsed, and at that point, the beam fell onto the building,” Carroll said.

Gabrielle Marcantoni, owner of Crave, saw Carol's face through her shop window.

“I saw the neighbor, her face slowly getting bigger, and she shot down the road very quickly,” Marcantoni said.

Marcantoni ran to the outside as well.

“All the people who live here were terrified, and when they picked up the prop and started trying to remove it, it pulled back even more, and all I heard was, 'Oh, no, stop,'” Marcantoni said.

The building that was struck is home to businesses and the Payson House apartments.

“It shook me, like a little earthquake,” said Doug Little, who lives in Payson House Apartments. “We're worried about all this turmoil, and it's been pretty amazing. My wife was very sad and upset.”

The city said no one was injured, and damage to the building was considered minor.

She looks into the reasons that led to this.

Adam Rust/WFMZ-TV

For now, the demo has been paused, until the contractors come up with a plan on how to proceed.

Work currently being done at the site is to remove existing materials.

The old garage was demolished to make way for a new garage and apartments.

“The noise was incredibly loud and deafening,” said Dan Negito, who works and lives across from the garage, a historic area of ​​the city.

Many people had been against the project before, because of its potential impact on nearby historic homes.

“Old houses, old construction, old pipes. We made it clear to the city council that this was a concern of ours,” Negito said.

The Bethlehem Area Historical Society says it is deeply concerned.

Adam Rust/WFMZ-TV

“We hope our members and neighbors get a full accounting of what happened and what will be done to prevent this type of incident in the future,” said Brian Carnahan, treasurer of the Bethlehem Area Historical Society. Before work begins on the Market Street side of the garage.

The city noted that vibration monitoring devices are on site 24 hours a day.

Boyle Construction is the project manager, she said. 69 News reached out to the company on Friday for more information and has not yet received a response.

The city is seeking to replace it with a smaller apartment building and garage on the site, but that plan has drawn criticism from the Bethlehem Historic Architectural Review Board.

Adam Rust/WFMZ-TV

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