by Geoff Fox
A portion of Hancock’s Main Street will be closed for several days as crews begin tearing down 55 West Main Street. Work will begin on Friday, March 29.
Main Street will be closed from Church Street to Fulton Street, Town Manager Mike Faith said on Thursday.
The closure began at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon and will be a 24-hour closure until the project is complete.
The section of street will be open for local traffic only, meaning residential and business PARKING ONLY, from Church Street to Taney Street.
From Taney Street to Fulton Street, the roadway will be completely closed.
The Western Maryland Rail Trail from Williams Street to Taney Street will also be closed while the demolition is taking place for the sake of public safety.
A detour of Fulton Street or Church Street to High Street and Pennsylvania Avenue or Church Street to Canal Street will be open.
Faith said Allegany Wrecking and Salvage out of Hagerstown will be doing the demolition work.
55 Main Street partially collapsed into itself over last weekend. When the building condition was discovered, emergency responders from around the county came to Hancock to stand by as special technical search crews from Montgomery County looked through the building to make sure no one had been caught in the partial collapse. The building had no official occupants, but town officials were aware that squatters and others were known to use the structure, which was not secured.
photo by Geoff Fox
