Jamesport opens downtown again

Downtown Jamesport is open again following the collapse of the Post Office building on the morning of Aug. 19.
All the mail in the post office is believed to have been recovered and Robert Shields, Officer-in-Charge, has returned to work after a close call.
Shields had just stepped out of the building before it collapsed; no one else was in the building and no one was injured.
The American flag, which remained standing while the brick building crumbled to rubble around it, was presented to Shields by Jamesport Fire and Rescue member Christian James Woodring on Aug. 21.
A temporary post office was brought in on Saturday, according to David Roll, Director Daviess County Emergency Management. It is located across the street from the bank at the city parking lot next to the tavern. Post Office boxes have been bolted to the sidewalk so that people can collect their mail and send outgoing mail. The postal service will be providing a “mobile retail unit” to serve the community.
The salon to the east of the post office, Mandy Prescott’s Glamour Shop, which shares the wall with the post office is still closed pending the owner’s insurance company sending out their own people.
A second building to the south, owned by Minno Graber, was also demolished, Roll said. Graber had just purchased the property next to the post office. He signed papers the Friday before the collapse with the intention of renovating and opening it up as a quilt store. Graber is Amish. He had no insurance on the property.
The property owner just to the south of the Graber building has been in contact with her insurance company (Sue Olsen, owner of Sue’s Soft Stuff).
The tavern is open.
The postal service brought in their own structural engineer. The insurance company for Terry Spillman, who owns the post office property, sent out a forensic engineer. The postal service leased the building from Spillman.
Roll added that Emergency Management has not received any paperwork at this time, therefore the cause of the collapse is still undetermined.
Security around the building was provided to the site by the US Postal Service Inspection Police and local law enforcement. Roadways were closed along the four-way intersection and the block was closed off.
Route F and State Hwy. 190 were opened by MoDOT on Saturday.
Roll said not all the debris has been cleared. Currently samples of rubble are being tested to rule out any potential asbestos, given the age of the structure. Once those test results are back, the removal of the debris will continue.
“I want to thank the Jamesport community and businesses for their patience and understanding throughout this incident,” Mr. Roll said, “as well as the First Responders, Jamesport Fire & Rescue, Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, Daviess County EMS, the city of Jamesport, and state & federal agencies.”