A building dating back to the early 1900s has partially collapsed just south of Downtown St. Joseph.

The vacant building, located in the 900 block of 6th St. was once used by the Brown Transfer & Storage Company.

“The rainstorm that came this morning there was sufficient pressure to knock out the front part of that parapet wall due to the roof sagging,” said Andre Messner, Chief Building Official with the City of St. Joseph.  “The owner did tell me they had been doing some repairs in there, trying to repair the roof.”

Messner said the building was vacant at the time and that there was an alarm system in place to keep people from breaking in.

The city has closed off 6th St. in the 900 block near Olive St. due to the collapse.

“We’re blocking off the road because of the potential of more of that brick and wall falling and potentially hurting someone very seriously,” Messner said. “We’re working with the owner of the building to put together a plan to either secure it, partially demo it, or fully demo it.”

The St. Joseph Fire Department will be working with city officials to inspect the facility.

“As soon as the fire truck gets here, he’ll be taking me up to look at it much closer to get a better opinion on the path we should be taking,” Messner said.

Official anticipate the roadway will stay closed at that location through Monday.

“As of right now we can’t even clean up the bricks because of the potential for even more bricks to fall,” Messner said.