Crews worked during the early morning hours Saturday to stabilize a water tank in Chicago’s River North neighborhood after the tank started to lean Friday, dumping thousands of gallons of water on the street below.
Cranes perched near the tower as workers focused on stabilizing the structure before it is torn down.
The tank, which sits on a building in the 400 block of West Huron, was seen spurting water and listing to one side Friday afternoon.
The building below the tank -- which houses a daycare center, PR firm, medical office and workout studio-- was evacuated Friday, sending around 180 people outside.
ComEd crews were brought to the scene and shut off electricity near the tower after fire officials said Friday they were worried about an electrical transformer in the alley below the tower.
Last year three people were injured in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood when an old water tank fell from a nine-story building into an alley.
Neighbors who usually admire the structure were shocked to see it spilling its contents Friday.
"All of a sudden I heard this big bang, like metal popping ... straining. Then it just started gushing water," Scott Christiansen said.
The intersections of West Erie Street and North Hudson Avenue, and Erie and Orleans were shut down in the eastbound direction.
Local
NBC 5 has learned the water tower has a spotty inspection record. According to a 2013 report, the building, and the water tower, failed city inspections.
City officials say they are going after the building owners and bumping up the court date for the 2013 infractions.
