Construction equipment from the ELEV8 company tear apart a warehouse that partially collapsed Monday night. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on March 18, 2025 at 3:12 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Demolition has begun on a section of a former warehouse that partially collapsed on Main Street in Springfield during rush hour Monday evening.
Questions remain as to why part of the roof and outside wall of the former Solomon’s Auction House collapsed at North Main and East 14th streets, showering the street with bricks and debris as other parts of it bulged out over the sidewalk.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The building collapsed about 5 p.m., and firefighters initially found the structure too unsafe to enter to check for anyone trapped, Fire Chief Keith Powers said. A police drone later checked the building and found that the roof had rotted and collapsed. A fire department dog did not find anyone inside, Powers said.
“The building is unsafe for occupancy or for the neighborhood,” fire department spokesman Eric Prosswimmer said at the scene Tuesday morning. “We have turned it over to the city’s building compliance so they can do what they needed to do for the safety of the citizens.”
The 74,500-square-foot building was built in 1925, according to city records. Miami-based Future of Cities bought it in 2021.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Future of Cities is developing 8 acres of what is known as the Phoenix Arts and Innovation District in that part of Springfield into affordable housing, markets and other uses. Those properties, including the former Solomon warehouse, are along Market, Hubbard, Main, Liberty and East 15th streets.
City spokesman Phil Perry said Future of Cities is paying for the demolition of the parts of the building that pose the most immediate threat of further collapse. The demolition began about 8 a.m. Tuesday. The closed sidewalk and northbound Main Street were to be reopened later Tuesday, Perry said.
Future of Cities did not respond to requests for comment. Phoenix Arts officials did issue a statement saying it had been working closely with the city to prepare for the demolition of the “unoccupied and secured property” at 2301 N. Main St.
“We believe the recent high winds caused the building’s accelerated collapse before the scheduled demolition could be completed,” the statement said. “We are grateful that nobody was hurt.”
