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Strong winds damage Williams Opera House in Attica

The Williams Opera House in Attica following the wind storm.
Attica Police Dept.
The Williams Opera House in Attica following the wind storm.

The strong winds on Sunday caused a lot of damage to the Williams Opera House in Attica.

According to village police at about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, the rear wall of the building began to collapse due to the high winds. It is a three-story brick and masonry building that was built around 1879.

Police say the damage became evident at daybreak.  Officers say that a large section of masonry and brick rear wall collapsed into the building. When that happened the second floor in the rear of the building also collapsed onto the first floor. A vehicle parked behind the Williams Opera House was also damaged.

Police say that although only a portion of the rear wall is damaged the structural integrity of the building is compromised. Wyoming Building Code Enforcement as well as the property owner were on location Sunday and there were plans to reinforce the structural integrity of the damaged wall and building.

Codes officials temporarily condemned the building for human occupancy. All utilities to the building were shut off.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.