Medina will have structural engineer determine if building can be saved after fire

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Firefighters used five aerial ladder trucks work to put out a fire on Friday at 613 Main St. The village is having a structural engineer come to determine if the building can be saved or if it needs to be knocked down, Mayor Mike Sidari said this morning.

The roof and floors are gone, but the Medina Sandstone walls remain.

If the building can be saved, Sidari said a developer would like to take charge of the site.

The building from 1901 was used to sell carpet and also had two residents on the second floor.

This is the first building on the east side of Main Street when people cross the railroad tracks. The mayor said he is hopeful the structure can continue to stand.

“Right now it’s a wait-and-see,” he said.

Medina firefighters are keeping close tabs on the site for hot spots following the big blaze. About 150 firefighters from three counties were able to contain the fire to the building without it spreading.

Fire investigators also are on the scene this morning trying to determine the cause, Sidari said.

Traffic was closed off to Main Street from Center Street to Maple Ridge Road for part of Friday. This photo is from about 2 p.m. on Friday.

Main Street remains blocked off to traffic this morning from Park Avenue to North Avenue.

The three-story sandstone building was built by Charles Dye and Frank Austin as the first “mechanical” cold storage building in Medina, the Medina Sandstone Society said.

“Prior to the invention of mechanical refrigeration, ice cut during the winter was used to refrigerate locally grown fruit – mainly apples, peaches, pears and plums,” the Sandstone Society posted on its Facebook page.

The organization said it hopes the historic structure can be saved.