LORAIN, Ohio — A historic downtown Lorain building was struck by lightning during a brief but intense storm Wednesday morning.
“We came out to look at the rain. It was pouring,” said Jani Oehlke, explaining the storm appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “I just got right here and it just – boom.”
Oehlke’s antique store, 530 Shop LTD, sits across Broadway from the Eagles Building. She said it was unclear what the booming noise was at first.
“[It sounded like] an explosion. Everything’s amplified in the lobby and that’s where I was standing,” she explained.
The Lorain Fire Department said a construction crew working on the Palace Theatre next door flagged down a passing firetruck to report the lightning strike and falling bricks around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Initial reports of a possible building collapse prompted numerous emergency responders to the area, though the damage proved minimal.
“It made me jump up on the edge and look down, see what was going on,” said Reinaldo Contreras III, who was working in his artist studio down the street and saw the responding cars.
The lightning strike damaged a chimney in the rear of the building and caused several cracks in the facade. The Lorain fire marshal said it was fortunate the lightning didn’t hit scaffolding near the construction crew or start a fire in the building.
The Eagles Building, built in 1918, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In recent years, it’s sat empty. Contreras wondered if the lightning strike could help garner renewed attention to the historic building.
“Maybe it’s going to drive somebody to be like, ‘Oh what’s up with that building? Let me buy it,’” he said.
The work in the alley between the Eagles Building and Palace Theatre is on hold while the fire marshal and building department assess the building’s safety. A structural engineer will take a closer look at the damage and decide what repairs are necessary and whether any part of the building will need to be demolished.
