Cambridge building won’t be stabilized until February at best

Mid –February that’s the expected time frame Cambridge city officials say it will take to stabilize the building that partially came down at the end of October, that is if everything goes as planned.

What’s changed since the day the Hearn building began to fall down, is a chain link fence now closes off the street and concrete barriers are in place in case more of the building should fall.

Cambridge mayor Victoria Jackson says the city, Dorchester County, and the state of Maryland are all working together to make this happen.

“It’s going to take time, its going to take money and most of all its going to take patience but we’re moving as fast as we can and as safely as we can for the good of all,” Jackson said.

But time isn’t something that resident Gene Tolley thinks the building has.

Tolley’s home and business, which are next to the Hearn Building, were condemned when the structure began to fall.

Tolley says bricks are still falling and doesn’t believe the building will still be standing by mid-February.

He fears when it comes down, that’ll be the end of the Tolley Theatre and his home.

“First good wind we get (noreaster) or cold weather, that’s going to expand the bricks, rain or snow and were finished,” Tolley said.

Tolley believes keeping the building would be a waste of government money. However Jackson, Dorchester County, and the state want to keep the building for it’s historical value.

Stablilizing the building would cost an estimated $600,000. So far, the county has applied for over $700,000 in grant money, but only received $10,000.

We’re told half of that money is being used to pay an engineer to design stabilization plans for the building.