Abandoned Chinatown building collapses
Advertiser Staff
An abandoned building in Chinatown collapsed yesterday afternoon as crews were attempting to save it.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The single-story building at 1154 Nu'uanu Ave. partially collapsed early yesterday. As workers from Concrete Coring Co. were trying to brace the building, its roof and walls "exploded into the street," company president John Neff said.
A city crew in Chinatown cleans up after an abandoned building gave way as workers were attempting to brace its walls and roof yesterday. No one was injured at the site of the single-story building at Nu'uanu Avenue and Pauahi Street that used to house the Golden Platter Chinese Restaurant.
Neff said he suspected that the building would fall and he ordered his workers away from the structure. He also evacuated employees and customers in surrounding businesses and stopped pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area.
There were no reports of injuries. Police rerouted traffic around a section of downtown and were expected to reopen the streets late yesterday.
Neff blamed structural failure as the cause of the collapse. The building has been abandoned since 1990.
There were no reports of damage to surrounding buildings or cars, he said.
