SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) - Sioux Falls City Permits Director Ron Bell says construction crews had a permit to begin small remolding projects on the old Copper Lounge building, however were not permitted to remove load-bearing walls and other heavy remodeling.
The old Copper Lounge building on Philips Avenue was being renovated into a Lewis Drug Store.
"All I can assume is that they were in the process of removing the bearing wall between the two properties." Bell tells KELO Radio News. He says that would be a good suspect for what happened, although there is nothing official yet. It is far too early to determine what caused the 100-year-old building to collapse, trapping two people in the rubble.
Reports have surfaced indicating that the contractor may have been working to remove a wall between Skelly's and the Copper Lounge, however photo evidence of that was removed from the company's Facebook page late Friday afternoon.
A young woman and her dog were rescued from the rubble. One construction worker, Ethan McMahon, was found dead in the wreckage. Rescuers said the could hear what may have been McMahon banging on the rubble in an attempt to be rescued after the building feel, however those sounds fell silent several hours before his body was recovered.
The city says that preliminary plans submitted proposed the renovation of the first story to a 4,800 square foot retail suite for Lewis Drug, with the existing smoke shop area remaining as a retail suite. The plans proposed the expansion of the existing Copper Lounge area into the adjoining single-story old Skelly's area.
