"It looks just like pick-up sticks."

That was the comment of Muskegon Building Inspector Henry Faltinowski in Michigan as he viewed the collapsed roof of Jones Auditorium.

The city has declared the building off limits after the roof over part of the bingo hall collapsed Tuesday.

Scott Jones, who now has owned the auditorium for 18 months said, “We're very thankful we didn't have bingo when it came down." 100 to 150 people a night, three nights a week come to play the Fruitport Soccer Club bingo games.

Muskegon had a significant snowfall overnight on Monday and Tuesday morning an employee reporting to work found that the roof had collapsed.

On Wednesday, two city building officials went up in a 103-foot aerial fire truck to survey the damage. "It's too early to tell what caused it," Don LaBrenz said afterward. "It's not safe for anyone to be in there now," he added. They will have to wait for a structural engineer to find out what happened to the roof.

Now the soccer club will have to find another hall large enough to meet its needs, and a "Roaring Twenties" party booked for March 29 is in jeopardy as well.


- 2008-01-25