Many people were watching closely as a historic building at 78 Main St., in downtown Penetanguishene, was being taken down with care Monday, following a partial collapse last Thursday.
"We are doing demolition slow but sure, where the walls had fallen down," said Midland-Penetanguishene Fire Chief Richard Renaud.
"We are doing a controlled removal of the floors and contents to try to control the amount (of the building) that is affected," he added. "The engineer and the chief building inspector are here monitoring as we go step by step and they will continue to assess it to the end."
Last week, a town official said the building was constructed in the early 1880s, so it's more than 140 years old.
On Monday, a large crew of workers were inside the blocked off portion of Main Street, below Robert Street, all wearing hard hats, while an excavator driver gingerly removed apartment furnishings and other contents in an effort to maintain the integrity of the attached structures including Captain Ken's Diner at the other end.
The next building on the west side, just down the street from the partially collapsed structure, including a cannabis shop and Bryants Jewellers at 66 Main St., and the apartments, have been closed and sit empty.
"That whole building has been evacuated as well just while we do the work," said Renaud. "Uphill is fine and all the businesses on the east side are fine as they have back doors."
Inside Penetang Quality Home Products, across the road at 77 Main St., many were almost holding their breath while watching the demolition.
Kattie Cowan, owner of Captain Ken's Diner, was one of the onlookers. She has been out of her building since the collapse Sept. 7.
"We were able to go in and get our tills and our debit machines and some of our pictures which means something to me because it was my dad's restaurant," said Cowan.
"But other than that no. They were worried about the building not being safe, so we weren't able to go into the basement where our stock is, so our stuff is all in there and we will have to deal with that. Everything will be no good. Our insurance is involved already," she added.
While the excavator was clawing out material from the second floor, Cowan said this isn't the first time there's been structural issues with the building. Her exterior wall crumbled into the laneway when the Town of Penetanguishene dug up Main Street for reconstruction in 2018.
"They had to brace it back up on the one side on the laneway. It took quite a while. We had to move our tenant out," she said.
Anthony Orsatti, owner of Straight and True Tattoo Studio, located at 72 Main St., was also watching the structure come down from inside the shop. He's also been out of his business since Sept. 7 as it's part of the same structure.
"I opened in 2018 before the Main Street reconstruction. I got shut down for that. Then I got shut down for COVID. I was just getting on the up and up and then this happened. It throws a wrench into things for sure," he said.
Orsatti said it took him five years to find that shop location in the small town where retail space is limited.
"I was really happy about this building. It has historic value. They do the museum walking tours from my front door because it's the Beck building. It's beautiful inside," he said.
Orsatti said the interior brick walls between the shops/apartments are not supported with studs.
"That's what makes it so fragile. We are really hoping it stays up," he said.
Jaimie Robitaille, who owns Penetang Quality Home Products, said that even though his business didn't need to close, business has decreased.
"There has been no storefront traffic at all," said Robitaille. "It's only people who know we have a back door onto Peel Street."
Chantelle Laughlin, who lived in one of the second-floor apartments in the impacted building, was standing outside behind the blocked-off zone.
"I heard a huge crack like someone had driven into the building," she said. "It was such a quick response. As soon as that bang happened, it wasn't 10 minutes and the cops were at our door," she said.
Ashley Laughlin, Chantelle's sister, lives in another second-floor apartment in the same building.
"It was a big bang and it felt like a big shake," she said. "We went outside and looked around but we didn't see anything because we are on the backside. We come back in, go back to bed and two minutes later, there were 10 cops at the door saying 'Get out'."
Ashley, her fiance and her two kids and pets left with little belongings. The family is being put up in a local motel.
"We are just thankful that we are all together and nobody was seriously hurt. We have each other and our pets. Stuff can be replaced," she said.
Both Ashley and Chantelle Laughlin are in need of three-bedroom apartments. Anyone who knows of a place locally should send them a message through the Salvation Army in Midland at 705-526-5683.
