Part of Princeton, Illinois has become a safety hazard. The city has closed down a section of street because of a crumbling building.
Sharilyn Davidson runs her family-owned chocolate shop out of the first floor of the very old building, and she's afraid it might get torn down.
"I'd hate to see the whole building come down, or destroyed. We want to save it," Davidson said.
But demolishing this three-story 19th century building might be the only answer. The planning and zoning administrator for Princeton, Peter Nelson, said it's showing some serious signs of wear and tear.
"More and more mortar is starting to crack and we see some bulging on the west side of the building that signaled to us that something is eminent here"
City officials feared the worst, and it happened.
"There was a final column holding up the corner and that column gave way on Monday night," Nelson said. "We've experienced a wall collapse that is threatening public safety."
The city is now taking steps to keep people safe by shutting down a typically busy section of street.
"We're just asking for everybody's patience to work with us while we try to find a quick solution to this situation," Nelson said.
One solution is renovation, but renovating it could be near impossible at this point. It's a fairly monumental project. Most of the contractors the building owner has contacted say it could be too big a job.
"It just might be too little, too late," said Nelson.
Unfortunately, that's not what Princeton's long time residents, like Sharilyn Davidson, want to hear.
"The whole town wants to save it, they don't want to see it go."
City officials are now working on a program for future business owners in Princeton to ensure that they have the means of maintaining an historic building when it begins to deteriorate.
