Historic Building Collapses In Ardmore - Ardmore, OK
N 34° 10.458 W 097° 07.664
14S E 672557 N 3783066
A story on KTEN's website on February 19, 2014 notes the destruction of a historic building at 1 Broadway Ave in Ardmore after the driver of a vehicle lost control due to a medical issue, striking the building in just the right spot.
Waymark Code: WM1279E
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 03/19/2020
Views: 1
This article appears to have been available on KTEN's website, and a copy of both the article and its accompanying photo are available from me upon request should the link become invalid. The story reads:
Posted: Feb 19, 2014 11:04 PM CST
Updated: Feb 19, 2014 11:04 PM CST
ARDMORE, OK -- The Confetti Bounce House in downtown Ardmore collapsed after a truck crashed into the front of it.
Police say the pickup slammed into the building after the driver passed out behind the wheel due to a medical issue.
It happened just after 4 o'clock. The entire front side of the business is now gone.
Fortunately no one was in the building at the time, and the driver wasn't hurt.
A city worker says the pickup struck a load bearing wall and that the wall collapsed when crews removed the truck from the scene.
"There was a load bearing wall about in the center it was like two garage doors, overhead doors and he T-boned it," said Nick Diaz.
"It's unbelievable just to have something that close by and just thinking about the fact they have birthday parties and everything in the corner of that every evening," said Jim Bowman.
"I saw this and apparently it had just happened minutes before and he was telling me it sounded like a train came through downtown. Unbelievable," said Dan Sauer.
The city says Washington and Broadway area near the building will remain closed overnight.
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This was a very impressive Romanesque building, contributing to the the Ardmore Historic Commercial District on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed around 1905 for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, who had since moved away from downtown, leaving this building for commercial purposes. Flickr user has a beautiful photo of it and 3 W Broadway a few years before the accident.