Part of facade crumbles at Karpeles Manuscript Library in Buffalo, New York



Part of the facade at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum located at 220 North Street in Buffalo has crumbled causing bricks to fall into Elmwood Avenue.

At approximately 11:20 p.m. (eastern time) on Sunday night February 17, a call was placed into 911 stating that bricks from a wall, a nearly 150 foot section of the upper facade, were lying in the middle of Elmwood after falling off the building. The fire department had to shut down Elmwood from North Street to Allen at 11:30 p.m. until further notice due to the debris and risk to public safety.

No one was injured in the incident, but at least one parked car was damaged by falling bricks.

Though no weather warnings have been issued for the City, winds with gusts up to 50 miles per hour have been reported through the night. It is not known if the wind played a factor in the damage to the building.

City engineers were on scene discussing how to handle the situation and clean up what has already fallen.

The museum is the world's largest collection of documents which are owned privately. The Buffalo building was originally a Church of Christ built in 1911.