Two Years Since Webber Building Collapse; Structure Still An Eyesore

The Webber building, also known as the Montgomery Theater, dates back all the way to 1860.

It even featured performers like John Wilkes Boothe, the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

But now, after a partial collapse during renovations two years ago, it has to come down.

“The big issue is getting the roof. The roof has got to be cut and you have to be very very careful because once that happens, the probability of the walls collapsing after you take off the bracing is very high,” said Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange.

Mayor Strange says Marjam, the company that owns the property, finally has a demolition contract for the building.

Strange was in New York to meet with the company just last week.

The company is also responsible for much of the new development downtown, and Strange says the Webber building hasn’t hurt that growth.

“No, not at all. That whole block is really under development by Marjam so they’re part and parcel of all this. They understand that it’s got to come down, they just want to make sure that it’s done in a safe fashion,” said Strange.

The mayor expects some sort of progress in the next three weeks or so.

And that’s progress other businesses downtown are looking forward to, including Charlie’s Trophies around the block.

“It’s unfortunate what happened, but it needs to come down. It’ll be good if they get progress on doing what needs to be done, getting the traffic flow back on the streets and having people in the area see that something is being done,” said David Gulino.