Snow buildup damages several local buildings

Tribune photo/Michael Glover Fort Scott Lanes owner Debbie Talbot looks up at the damage in the women's restroom of the building. Ceiling panels collapsed under the weight of melted snow from the roof of the bowling alley. Talbot had to shut down, temporarily, for safety reasons.

Accumulated snow on rooftops and structures has damaged four area buildings.

Lingering effects of last week's winter storm that unloaded 13 inches of snow in Fort Scott produced enough pressure on roofs to collapse ceilings inside the buildings.

The Kennedy Memorial Auditorium, Hawkins Public Safety Facility, the Med Plans building, and Fort Scott Lanes bowling alley all received damage.

Damage from heavy snow pack shut down Fort Scott Lanes when the owners noticed sporadic damage on Monday throughout the structure.

The building sustained damage in the restrooms, the locker room and in the carpeting located in the main portion of the building. A number of ceiling tiles collapsed in the women's restrooms, revealing soaked insulation and floors. Water drained into lockers and onto the floor in the locker room.

"Hopefully, we can get all of this cleaned up by Friday, so we can be open by Saturday," co-owner Debbie Talbot said.

She said the bowling alley had to be closed to mitigate the liability of a customer getting injured at the building. The snow damage couldn't have come at a worse time, Talbot said. Fort Scott Lanes' busiest months are in December, January and February. The bowling alley is closed in the summer months.

Talbot said she's lucky in one regard.

"Thank God there wasn't any damage on the lanes," she said. "That would've been a tremendous cost."

Three roofers climbed on top of the metal roof on Tuesday and scraped off snow, alleviating pressure, Talbot said, and that prevented additional tiles from collapsing. The roofers measured 8 to 12 inches of snow on the roof.

She couldn't determine how much monetary damage the devastation produced, but she will know more when an insurance adjuster assesses the building.

Tom Braker, administrative service manager for Med Plans, said an awning located on the south side of the building collapsed, apparently under the heavy snow load. He said the damage probably occurred while the building was empty. The awning has not been fixed, and Braker didn't have a dollar amount of damages.

Also, rocks came off the roof of the structure as well, however no leaks have been reported in the facility.

"The building is secure," Braker said.

The City of Fort Scott owns the building, located at 4500 Campbell Drive, and Med Plans leases the building from the city.

City Manager Richard Nienstedt said at a city commission meeting Tuesday that the city is keeping a track of damage expenses for possible state aid that could become available, since Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued a southeast Kansas a state of emergency.

The Kennedy gym on Eddy Street sustained ceiling damage after church officials discovered the wreckage earlier this week. The gym is owned by Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Staff could not be reached for comment.

Kennedy's damage was nearly exactly the same as what occurred at the Hawkins Public Safety Facility, 1604 S. National Ave. Bowed ceilings and damaged sheetrock in the walls forced police and fire officials to evacuate the building on Friday.

They haven't returned and are awaiting a structural engineer's assessment of the building before moving back in. The police are working out of the third floor of Memorial Hall while the fire department is housed at the National Guard Armory.