The roof of a Grinnell building slated to be a part of the Iowa Transportation Museum project collapsed yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. The building is located across the street from the Grinnell Public Safety Building which houses the city’s police and fire departments. Firefighter Rob Vest heard the roof cave in and says he thought it was a car crash in the intersection. The hole resulting from the collapse is about 30-feet wide, 60-feet deep and 15 feet high. Grinnell City Manager Russ Behrens can’t say for sure what caused the collapse, but he believes the building just couldn’t support its own weight anymore. Behrens says no one was hurt and no other properties were damaged so they consider themselves lucky. The building was targeted by the Iowa Transportation Museum to be the first building of three in Grinnell they would renovate. Behrens says it was scheduled to be the administrative building. The building was considered the most “interesting” and the easiest one to renovate. It is not clear how the roof collapse will affect plans for the museum.
