Building Parapet Collapses on Beacon Street in Somerville

Update: 3:54 p.m.:

• Story: Beacon Street Collapse: 'It Was Just a Matter of Time'

Update: 2:40 p.m.: Somerville Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher said the city was working to reopen Beacon Street before Monday evening rush hour.

"Hopefully before rush hour," he said.

As of about 2 p.m., the street—a main thoroughfare through Somerville—was still closed.

The sidewalk outside Zoe's Chinese Restaurant and Mixtura would be closed off at least until Tuesday, Kelleher said.

Kelleher said that the parapet of the building—an overhanging decorative section of concrete and bricks—began falling at around 9:46 a.m.

"The parapet wall was continuing to fall down when we were here," the fire chief said.

Kelleher confirmed there were no injuries. Firefighters searched the rubble for bodies and found none, and no one was reported missing, he said.

In order for the sidewalk and part of Beacon Street to reopen, the owner of the building needed to hire work crews to remove the heavy rubble and debris that fell, according to Kelleher. He also said the owner needed to hire a structural engineer to assess damage to the building.

Hugo Cerna, owner of Mixtura, said his restaurant would be closed for at least a month. That would be a best case scenario, he said, and it would depend on the structure of the building being sound even though the parapet crumbled to the ground. If the building needs structural repairs, his restaurant could be closed longer, he said.

Every day a restaurant is closed "you're losing money," he said.

ORIGINAL STORY

The facade of 296 Beacon St., which is home to Zoe's Chinese Restaurant, collapsed Monday morning, strewing heavy rubble and concrete all over the sidewalk.

The collapse likely happened shortly before 10 a.m., and Beacon Street was closed down in the area as firefighters responded to the collapse.

Even though heavy debris was scattered along the sidewalk under the collapse, fire officials at the scene said there were no injuries. They said the building likely collapsed due to age, wear and tear. A building inspector was set to respond to the scene to determine the cause of the collapse.

The facade and sign for Mixtura restaurant was also damaged in the collapse.

You see helicopter views of the damage at WHDH.

Somerville Patch will post more information when it becomes available.

Patch editor Bret Silverberg, reporting from Beacon Street, contributed to this report.