The Chattanooga Fire Department responded Thursday afternoon to a partial collapse downtown of a former Car Barn building under demolition.
While multiple fire companies responded to a call at 4:10 p.m., most were called off after initial responders discovered there had been no injuries, department spokesperson Lindsey Rogers said in a press release.
First responders did confirm a portion of the building had collapsed, scattering bricks and debris on the sidewalk.
Drury Development, the company that builds Drury Hotels, began tearing down the historic building at the corner of Market and East Third streets in July.
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Building partially collapses amid hotel construction
Missouri-based Drury Development plans to build an eight-story, 200-room Drury Plaza Hotel at 301 Market St. It began construction in July after updating its design to conform to downtown code.
First responders stopped work at the scene until a building inspector surveyed the structure, which was blocked off at the time of the collapse. Only one lane of traffic on East Third Street was open alongside the building.
The brick building dates to 1886 and served as a storage and repair facility for Chattanooga’s public transit system until the 1980s, according to Preserve Chattanooga. It was the longtime home of the Sportsbarn athletic club, which closed in 2023.
A spokesperson for Drury Hotels was not immediately available Thursday to respond to a call and email requesting comment on how the collapse happened and if it changes the company’s plans at the site.
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Much of the structure has remained standing since Drury began demolition around two months ago. Todd Morgan, executive director of Preserve Chattanooga, has criticized the project for tearing down a building on the National Register of Historic Places.
“An owner can still do whatever they want to do,” Morgan said at a press conference in July. “That doesn’t make it right. You know, they have an obligation to the community to seek every possible way to save that building and keep it as part of the community’s fabric.”
Drury Development said in an email at the time that the company would work to use some of the original building material in its hotel design where possible.
Contact business reporter Daniel Dassow at ddassow@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.