COLLAPSE: This old brick building in Grant Street, Golden Point, partially came down on Sunday afternoon. PHOTO: JUSTIN WHITELOCK.
THERE are a lot of historical buildings in Ballarat showing signs of old age, but it is not often they fall down.
However, an old brick building in Golden Point did just that yesterday, when its top section collapsed onto the footpath below.
The old general store on the roundabout at the corner of Barkly and Grant streets collapsed without warning about 1pm.
It left a large pile of bricks and debris scattered on the footpath and the road. To make matters worse, it also upset a wasps’ nest that was inside the roof.
Police, the State Emergency Service and City of Ballarat Council workers not only had to cope with traffic at one of Ballarat’s busiest roundabouts, but also a swarm of angry wasps. A live power cable remained connected to the partially collapsed building, which Powercor disconnected.
SES duty officer Catherine Ogata said it was not known what caused the building to fall down and that it was lucky nobody was walking past at the time.
“It seemed fairly unstable so building assessors were needed to determine if it was safe to clean up at all,” she said.
Sections of Barkly, Grant and Peel streets remained closed off for hours while building assessors determined whether the building was safe or if it was subject to further collapses.
Nobody was home or injured at the time of the collapse.