ELYRIA, Ohio — The City of Elyria says it’s planning to arrange meetings with the Mayor, city personnel, local business and building owners to figure out how to fix crumbling building facades downtown.
“I feel mad about the building here,” said business owner Iyad Almukdad. “There are bricks coming down.
There are so many pieces of broken glass and bricks that the city decided to close off part of a sidewalk and an alleyway behind another building just to keep people safe.
“When the winter started in December, bricks came down from the wall,” said Almukdad.
Almukdad says he takes care of his building but neighboring structures, some of which are vacant, aren’t as well maintained.
"This is dangerous, no doubt this is dangerous," said Almukdad.
The city wouldn’t do an on-camera interview with News 5 for this story. In an emailed statement, they told News 5 Ohio’s winter weather had caused the damage to old buildings and sidewalks.
The city tells News 5 they’ll start meetings with the business and building owners later in February to try to find a solution.
