City inspectors are trying to figure out what caused a building to collapse Tuesday out of nowhere in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood causing debris to rain down onto a neighboring daycare with kids inside.
Neighbors say they’ve warned Chicago officials about the dangers of the building before.
"It just boomed in," the daycare owner, identified only as Debbie, said. "We were just shaken up. The children crying."
Bricks rained down onto and around surrounding buildings including Debbie’s home daycare.
“Me and the children were on our way outside," she said. "And I wanted to give them snack first and that was the only reason they weren’t out here."
Debris also flew into the daycare and surrounding buildings — fortunately no one was hurt from the collapsing building.
“For a couple of years now, years we’ve been complaining about the building," Debbie said. "Nothing has happened about it. Called the city, called the alderman."
Local
Long-time neighbor Jeff Brumfield agreed — saying say the abandoned building also gets set on fire.
“Numerous times to get this thing torn down," he said. "No word. Nothing. Everybody turns their backs on us.”
The spokesman for local Ald. David Moore says they’ve done what they could.
“We work for these constituents, we’re here to make sure that they’re safe,” Chief of Staff Jerome Wade said. “If people have been complaining about the property, we know what we have done is we’ve made sure the property owner has secured the building.”
Neighbors wonder if they are safe as they wait for cleanup to start and damage to be fixed.
“I’m scared you know and I’m scared for the children,” Debbie said.
Her home daycare will be closed Wednesday as they make repairs.
Moore’s office hopes the collapsed building will be torn down by Wednesday night.
