Engineers Release Immediate Action Report on Citizen’s Bank Building

JONESBORO, Ark. — An engineering firm hired by the City of Jonesboro to evaluate the stability of the old Citizen’s Bank building on Main Street presented their findings Thursday night to the Jonesboro City Council.

The report from NorthDelta Engineering, available in full below, states that there are two areas where the external wall structure appears to have lost lateral support, causing the wall to move away from the building. The wall seems to be deflecting outward toward Main Street.

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“The wall structure area furthest north (between the stairwell and elevator structure) has moved the most and is the most concerning at this time,” the report says.

Recommendations

The engineering firm’s report provided several possible actions to the city. The engineers recommend the Main Street entrance no longer be used and only the Washington Avenue entrance on the south side of the building be utilized.

Because of the risk of concrete elements collapsing and falling away from the building, a protection wall is recommended to be constructed on the west side of the First Horizon Bank building and the west side of the Mutual of Omaha building. Recommendations were for the wall to be 64 feet long and 16 feet tall to potentially protect from any falling debris.

Engineers suggested the wall be constructed using steel scaffolding with 2×6 wood studs and a layer of plywood nailed to each face of the wood studs. As of 11:20 a.m. on Friday, City Communications Director Donna Malone said construction on the wall was underway.

After the protection wall is finished, engineers recommended adding lateral bracing to the vertical concrete elements in the areas of N-1 and N-2 (see above). The report cautioned this should be done before any other work is done, including demolition.

Once the lateral bracing is added, engineers recommended portions of the east wall be demolished down to the 5th-floor level.

Engineers recommend additional investigation and structural evaluation as the project progresses. They specifically noted an area of interest for the long-term stability of the building being the connection of the three-story steel structure that was added to the original four-story structure. Engineers said this has not been investigated yet.

Until the unstable elements on the east wall of the old Citizens Bank building are secured or removed, it is not possible to predict the risk of damage to the adjacent structures and their occupants from potential falling debris.

At October 3’s council meeting, the council voted unanimously to declare an emergency. Mayor Harold Copenhaver was also granted funding to construct the protection wall and other preventative structures in front of the building. The council also authorized the mayor to engage with legal and engineering teams related to the next steps needed with the aging structure.

FULL REPORT: 10-03-2024 100 W. Washington Immed. Action Report