1:41pm–#Bridgeport CT– Firefighters were called to another partial building collapse downtown Main Street today. The Corbit’s Studio at 1149 Main Street at the corner of Elm Street was slated to be torn down. In 2017 the city of Bridgeport obtained a $125,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant from the Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments, or MetroCOG in 2017 to remove the asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, photo developer chemicals and other hazardous material in the former Corbit’s building. A tulip museum is slated to take its place.
If you look above the windows on the second floor you can see a large crack and the wall bowing out. Another set of cracking with bowing not as pronounced can be seen below the windows closer to the upper first floor.
The Bridgeport Library has an interesting article online about the Corbit family and how they became a fixture of downtown since 1906 – http://bportlibrary.org/hc/business-and-commerce/corbit-studio/.
As I took these photos with my cell phone how they would have marveled at this technology we take for grant. The firefighters checked the integrity of the building and taped off the scene. I’m sure they will determine whether or not the building’s demolition will be sped up next week.
