sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A wall that city officials warned was in danger of collapsing fell Monday at Lindy鈥檚 Diner, sending part of the building onto a Downtown sa国际传媒官网网页入口 sidewalk and narrowly missing a passing vehicle.

The incident happened days after the restaurant was ordered closed.

The wall of the Bliss Building, at 500 Central SW, collapsed around noon, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Fire Rescue Lt. Jason Fejer said, forcing occupants in connected buildings to evacuate.

No injuries were reported.

鈥淭he whole second story was vacant, and it was just the first floor that was occupied,鈥� Fejer said.

A structural engineer will evaluate whether the building can be rebuilt or if it needs to come down entirely, Fejer added. 

Diner and building owner Steve Vatoseow said it was heartbreaking to see the building where he grew his business and family in shambles.

鈥淚 knew the building had issues, but in no way did I expect this,鈥� Vatoseow said. 鈥淏ut as heartbreaking and gut-wrenching as this is, I thank God nobody was hurt.鈥�

The incident comes just days after the city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Planning Department shut the diner down after inspections found that the two-story building鈥檚 northeast exterior wall was leaning and in danger of falling onto the public sidewalk or street.

First responders, including the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department and AFR, were on the scene shortly after the building鈥檚 wall fell, which had closed surrounding streets. A shared by APD showed the moment when the wall gave way, narrowly missing a truck driving southbound on Fifth Street. 

Fencing the city put up caught most of the debris.

鈥淲e investigate these matters very carefully and that is why we ordered the closure and installed the safety fencing,鈥� said Alan Varela, the city鈥檚 Planning Department director. He said the city is hopeful the structure 鈥渃an be safely restored.鈥�

Last week, Vatoseow said he had been trying to address the building problems for years but was unable to afford the fixes. The city gave the owners a deadline of May 4 to submit a structural engineer鈥檚 report, acquire a building permit and take corrective action.

Vatoseow said he planned to take action, but that it would be a while due to financial challenges. The building鈥檚 closing last week also coincided with a personal circumstance that Vatoseow said was limiting his ability to address the situation. 

Locals a GoFundMe to save the building and Lindy鈥檚 last week. The fundraiser set a goal of $100,000 鈥� the minimum amount Vatoseow said is needed to address the building鈥檚 immediate issues. The fundraiser had received 58 donations, totaling more than $7,400, late Monday.

The collapse and diner closure also comes as Vatoseow was seeking to sell the building for $1.3 million. He hoped to attract an owner capable of rehabbing the building.  

Longtime Lindy鈥檚 customer Johnny Jenkins took photos of the restaurant on his phone as he observed the collapsed structure alongside other Downtown strollers on Monday.

鈥淭hey rode it out as long as they could,鈥� he said.

City Councilor Joaqu铆n Baca, whose district encompasses the Downtown area, called the incident a 鈥渢ragedy.鈥� He added that situations like this are what spurred him to champion a vacancy bill 鈥� passed last year 鈥� that ensures unoccupied buildings are evaluated for structural integrity.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of concern about that, and so that bill will specifically address these exact conditions,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t breaks my heart. It鈥檚 terrible to lose an iconic building, especially on the 100th anniversary celebration of Route 66.鈥�

You can reach Kylie Garcia at kgarcia@abqjournal.com, Gregory Hasman at ghasman@abqjournal.com and Nakayla McClelland at nmclelland@abqjournal.com.