A “team effort” by city workers helped to save a downtown building and the structures that surround it on Tuesday.
Danville Fire Chief Don McMasters says that he, Fire Lieutenant Chris McMahon, Public Works Director Carl Carpenter and Aqua Illinois worked to secure the former Sears building, located at 126 N. Vermilion St. in downtown Danville.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. says that water was running through the structure, and had started to flood the basement and the surrounding buildings would have been in danger of flooding as well. He also says employees from Aqua Illinois helped to shut off water and electricity to the building.
McMasters says the building is being declared uninhabitable until the problems can be fixed, include the installation of a sprinkler system.
The building formerly housed the Sears store until it moved to the Village Mall, and later the Heartland Fair store was located there until it closed a year ago. The building is currently vacant.
