Roof at Grass Valley business being cleared of snow after partial roof collapse
GRASS VALLEY - Rain and the weight of snow threatened buildings in Grass Valley, where some have already been red-tagged due to roof cave-ins or broken beams.
Rain has the potential to make the situation, and vulnerable roofs stacked high with feet of snow, worse.
"We're gonna will it to happen, too. spring's just around the corner," said Penny Short, owner of Tess' Kitchen Store. One of the store's two locations in Grass Valley, located on Nevada City Highway, was closed due a roof cave in at a business in the same connected building.
It was one of two buildings in the Fowler Shopping Center that, due to the weight of snow, were red-tagged and closed while crews shored up the cave-ins and removed snow from the flat-roofs.
"As retailers we've all been pivoting, since COVID hit in 2020. This is one more pivot, one more opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons," said Short.
As her employees from one store came to work at the second location in downtown Grass Valley, Short said the news of the red-tag was still fresh and the next steps are, too. While rain fell on Thursday outside, inside Tess' Kitchen Store Short was focused on spring and "willing it" to come sooner than later.
Nearly a dozen other businesses have also been red-tagged, with concerns about the weight of snow and rain on the roofs.
Tom Last, the Grass Valley Community Development Director, said, "Our concern is the snow and rain...make sure our storm systems can handle the amount of rain."
Last said engineers will review the beam fixes in both buildings in the Fowler Shopping Center before businesses can reopen.
At Tess' Kitchen Store, and in Grass Valley, small businesses are preparing to welcome visitors and sunshine on March 18th for the Foothills Celebration. This event, Short said, is a happy focus as she navigates clean up from storm damage at one of her stores.
In Grass Valley, on Crowne Point Drive, a building roof collapsed twice due to the weight of snow. Last said the company that owns the building in the business park is working on next steps and will decide how to move forward on the fixes.
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