It appears a 137 year old building on Albia’s town square may be saved.
The east wall of the building collapsed Sunday. Albia Fire Chief John Freshwater said contractors have been inside, inspecting the structure. “The rest of the building looks to be OK, so they think they can just prop everything up there and just basically build a new wall on that side,” Freshwater said.
The building recently housed a microbrewery, but has been vacant for about a year. It’s known as the Skean Block Building and was built in 1889. The building was restored to its original condition in 1996.
In mid-July of last year, a fire destroyed another historic building on Albia’s town square. The entire square is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KIIC, Albia)