Washington Street Building Vacated Due to Flood Damage
Michael Boyink/Herald The building is situated on a drainage culvert that backed up, sending heavy rain waters against and into the building instead.
by Michael Boyink / mike@douglascountyherald.com
A foot.
12.02 inches to be exact.
According to Accuweather.com, that’s how much rain Ava had in May of 2020.
On May 22nd alone we received over three inches.
Usually May brings just under five inches.
While most of the focus locally is how the rains have damaged Douglas County’s extensive network of gravel roads, buildings have been affected as well.
One local casualty is the commercial building located at 301 West Washington, across from the Ava Post Office.
The brick building is situated right on top of a large drainage culvert. Recent heavy rains carried loads of brush, grass and trash downstream. The cement culvert plugged up, which put the building in the direct path of all that water.
“The foundation actually shifted,” said owner Nancy Parr. “The water was high enough inside that furniture got moved.”
The damage was extensive enough that Parr recommended her renters – The LaTour Advisory Group and Ambit Technologies – seek other locations in town.
“We just didn’t know what we’d find under the carpet or behind the walls,” Parr said. “It was just better for them to move out.”
The LaTour Advisory Group is now located at 1107 Lyle Street (the former FoxTrot Inn). Ambit is now at 202 Dean Street, Suite 4 (behind Pizza Hut).
The fate of the Washington building is uncertain. “We have an inspector coming,” said Parr. “And we’ll have to see what they recommend. My feeling is that we’ve probably lost the entire building, especially with the chance for mold to set in.”
