9-18-13 —   An historic building on the square in downtown Monticello partically collapsed Sunday afternoon.

    The facade of the building, known as the Old Masonic Lodge Building, fell at approximately 1 p.m. Sunday, according to reports from the Monticello Police Department.

    The building was un-occupied, and police stated that no one was injured. The traffic was detoured away from Columbia Avenue at its intersection with Main Street while clean-up efforts began.

    That corner of the square had been roped off for the last couple of weeks since officials were concerned with the safety of that building, according to Mayor Jeffrey Edwards. He said that a couple 

of pieces of debris had fallen onto the sidewalk which prompted the city to take precautionary measures.

    Crews had done some work recently to try to stabilize the building, which Edwards stated was more than 100 years old.

    Some areas of railing in that corner of the square were damaged by the collapse, and Edwards said he was uncertain about damage to the sidewalk since debris remained in that area.

    Edwards said the corner of the square will remain closed as long as there are safety concerns.

    The building has a long history in Monticello and has housed a number of businesses along the way, including a general merchandise store, a taxi cab stand, a shoe shine shop and may others. Edwards 

operated a real estate business from the historic location until 2010.