CINCINNATI — Police have shut down more roads around the Carew Tower after loose bricks fell Monday afternoon from the building, damaging one vehicle.
A building inspector at the scene on Tuesday determined they needed to block off more roads, expanding the closure to 5th Street between Vine and Race Streets. Vine street between 4th and 5th streets was already closed.
Matt Flagler with the Cincinnati Fire Department said they received 911 calls just before 3 p.m. that reported things falling off Carew Tower. When they arrived, officials found small pieces of brick had fallen off the building.
Mary Smith works across the street from Carew Tower and said she saw the whole thing happen.
"This only happens on the movies, but I thank God that somebody was watching over me because they were falling down hard and dispersing like crazy. They were dropping," she said.
Flagler said a construction crew was working near the top of the 49-story building to repair bricks. Officials believe the crew hit the side of the building with its scaffolding, knocking off some of the loose bricks.
One vehicle, Flagler said, had minor damage. Officials said the woman inside the vehicle is "very shaken up" but was not injured. No one was hurt.
"Obviously it's a big concern because those bricks fell from really high up," Flagler said. "So, we're working right now with the contractor and the building department to make sure that it was indeed just an isolated issue."
Dottie Lynch also works nearby and heard the loose bricks falling.
"I heard something go boom. I thought it was a car wreck," she said.
Vine Street between 4th and 5th, and 5th Street between Vine and Walnut will remain closed until more permanent safety measures are put in place, according to the City Of Cincinnati City Manager.
In 2022, Carew Tower was sold for $18 million to a New York-based investor called Victrix Investments LLC. Then, in December 2022, Governor Mike DeWine announced the 49-story tower would receive more than $6.4 million in Ohio development grants for cleanup and remediation of the interior.
Carew Tower is one of Cincinnati’s most important buildings. Constructed over 13 months at the start of the Great Depression, it rises 570 feet above sea level and was Cincinnati’s tallest building until the Great American Tower bested it by 91 feet in 2011. It was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1982 and is known for its art deco design elements, custom-made Rookwood tile in its first-floor arcade and a rooftop observation deck that offered unmatched views for decades.
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