City/contractor admits to mistakes in Blackfoot demolition

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI)- After the recent demolition of a well-known building in Blackfoot was demolished many are asking questions. The old Melina's restaurant on Main Street was torn down to make way for a new Maverick.

But as the building was being torn down, what was not expected was bricks falling into the street in what many are calling a near miss. The good news, however, is no injuries or property damage has been reported.

According to the mayor, the situation is still severe.

"It's probably the worst thing I've seen as far as a potential for a significant accident since I've been in office," Blackfoot Mayor Marc Carroll said.

The original idea was for the bricks of the building to fall backward, and into the sidewalk. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

"When the guy got around and saw the debris all the way across the street, I understand he was, in my term scared, got out, started cleaning everything up right away," Mayor Carroll said.

Both sides are admitting to things that they have done wrong.

"The city recognizes that we did some things wrong. The contractor admitted they did things wrong," Mayor Carroll.

For over a decade, the city of Blackfoot has followed an international construction code. It Requires new projects to have a safety and traffic management plan. The city issued the permit before the plans were in hand.

The mayor says steps are already being taken to ensure similar incidents won't happen in the future.

"It's ironic that we're in the process of switching over to a new project software that if that had been implemented, none of this would have been allowed to have happened," Mayor Carroll said.

The city feels like more time should have been spent to plan this out.