Bracing has been installed and the cause for the partial collapse for the roof at the Hotel Talisi has been uncovered, City of Tallassee building inspector Andy Coker told the city council at its June 11 meeting.
In a second progress report to the council, Coker said L&E Construction has completed the bracing needed to begin the roof and partial removal of a brick wall.
“They have completed the bracing from the second floor to the third,” Coker said. "That was the first thing that they needed to do. So that in the event the wall did come down, it wouldn't last forever but it would allow time for the workers to get off of the third floor."
Coker said further inspection revealed the root cause of the partial roof collapse.
"When we got in there further, the downspouts were not proper and it put pressure on the weight and it pulled the beams out of the pockets on the third floor,” he said. “That's what caused the roof to come down."
According to the progress report, most of the collapsed roof has been removed and what's left should be gone in the near future.
"They have about a quarter of the roof that was lying on the third floor," Coker said. "Most of that is gone. They have the bracing up and should be finished, barring weather, maybe by the end of this week or the first of next week."
Once the roof has been removed, the next step will be to take out part of the structure’s west-facing brick wall. Coker said JL Waste Connection of Montgomery will cut the old brick out.
“That's what the engineer wants,” Coker said. “They will come in and cut it square. Once that's been cut out and removed, the architect and structural engineer will come in and at that point they will draw out the rebuild part of the project."
While the council wanted a complete timeline for the full scope of work, Coker explained it is too soon to know exactly what it will entail.
"They can't go further until that's out, to see what all will need to be replaced structurally wise," Coker said.
Members of the council seemed to be cautiously optimistic with the progress at the hotel.
"At that point, I am assuming that we are going to make them do this on a timely basis," councilmember Bill Godwin said. "We want to keep their feet to the fire."
Coker says he hopes a definite end date for the project will be available in the next 30 days.