Historic brick building collapses in LaFayette

LAFAYETTE, Georgia (WDEF) – Officials are investigating what caused the collapse of a two story building near the Walker County Courthouse this afternoon.

It came down after 4PM on East Villanow Street at South Main, next to the main Courthouse square.

No one was injured by the collapse, but East Villanow will remain closed.

The initial call was that a truck may have hit it, but that has not been confirmed.

Officials say they knew there was a problem when the wall bowed out more than a month ago.

They notified the owner to take action to shore it up, but that had not happened.

It was vacant at the time of the collapse.

Now the owner will have to contract an engineer to decide what to do about it now.

The building is part of the old mercantile strip that is one of the oldest structures in the city.