UPDATE (12:25 p.m. 052518)
Three employees are safe after the back portion of the roof at SBS Home Center in downtown Kosciusko collapsed this morning.
Manager Shan Quillan and employees Sheila Threadgill and Brittany Nowell were the only people inside the store when the incident occurred.
The building, owned by Kosciusko Realty, is attached to the future Mississippi Native American Museum site, which had a wall and much of its roof collapse during early renovation efforts in March.
Employee Sheila Threadgill told The Star-Herald that she had just seconds earlier climbed down from a 12-foot ladder she was using to hang light fixtures, with her two fellow employees holding the ladder as she climbed down.
"We heard a noise toward the back and things were just falling and flying. By the time we headed out the door, the (picture) window glass had blown out from the pressure," said Threadgill.
"God protected us in so many ways. If customers were shopping when that glass blew out....," she said, her voice trailing off. "No one was hurt, but we have a lot of merchandise damaged. We love our store. We pour our hearts into decorating the store and we hope to reopen soon."
Employee Brittany Nowell is grateful none of the three inside were hurt.
"I'm just thankful we're all okay," she said. "I do believe there is a God."
The sidewalk and street in front of the 117 West Jefferson Street building was covered with thick glass from the picture window, but there were no customers parked or walking in front of the building at the time of the incident.
City officials say it will take time to assess the structure and others attached to the site. Mark Watson, structural engineer on the museum project, was expected to arrive later today to assess the situation.
When the received a report of windows being blown out, city officials initially believed there may have been a gas explosion.
"Were still trying to determine what happened, but we're thinking it might have something to do with all the rain and the roof," said Police Chief Herbert Dew.
Mayor Jimmy Cockroft agreed.
"At first, they thought it might be gas, but there was no smell," he said. Crews were called into the clean up all the glass and to secure the building.
Asked if he believed the roofing situation of the future Mississippi Native American Museum site might have lead to this collapse, he said he can't be sure until an official assessment can be done, but that it is a possibility.
"It's possible, but until I can get an expert here, all I can tell you is it is possible," he said.
Cockroft said the city had just recently sent a letter to McKnight & Sons, the firm working on the museum renovation, canceling the project. He was in the process of preparing information for the next Board of Aldermen's meeting, during which he intended to ask the board to consider the architect's latest recommendation.
"Even before today, the recommentation was to complete an asbestos assessment and to plan for demolition of the old Leonard building," he said, noting that the earlier roof collapse had weakened the walls of the building to the point that renovation was no longer a potential option. If that were approved and completed, he said, plans could be drawn up for construction of a new building on the site to house the future Mississippi Native American Museum.
On the other side of SBS Home Center are buildings housing Ivey National and Dance Company, neither of which were occupied at the time of the collapse. Preliminary assessment indicates there was no obvious damage was sustained by those buildings.
