ST. LOUIS – Bricks plummeted four stories Wednesday morning from a loft apartment building on Locust Street in downtown St. Louis.
Spencer White was on his way to work on Locust Street when he saw the sidewalk covered in bricks.
“It’s an eye opener,” White said.
Police taped off the sidewalk in front of Westgate Lofts at the corner of Locust and Jefferson after part of the brick facade fell from the building around 7 a.m. No one was hit by the debris, but a second-story window was broken.
“Gotta keep your head on a swivel. Gotta look up a little bit more now,” White said.
Opened in the early 1920s, the Haas Building is a historic part of St. Louis manufacturing. At one point, it was home to a prominent hat company and later an automobile showroom before turning into the lofts it is today.
A St. Louis city spokesperson sent FOX 2 a statement: “The building division will issue a repair notice to the owner and will monitor the repairs.”
No one had to evacuate the building. A restoration company came to look at the damage Wednesday afternoon.
It is the second St. Louis building to have this problem in the past week. Last week, part of the stone facade of the police academy on South Tucker fell off.
White is glad things have not ended up worse than they look.
“With everything being built, people walking, this being on everyone’s heads, it’s a little scary,” he said.
FOX 2 tried calling the Westgate Lofts multiple times but could not get hold of anyone.