Falling parapet damages downtown Naperville building

Fallen portraits and shattered glass littered the floor of a downtown Naperville photo studio Thursday morning but no one was injured when an ornamental piece of the building's roof collapsed.

City inspectors said the facade parapet fell backward about 10:45 a.m., onto the roof of the building at 127 S. Washington St., which houses Jill's, A Children's Photo Boutique.

“The two ends of the parapet are in place so this thing cracked at the roof line and fell to the inside,” said lead inspector Paul Felstrup, who was called to the scene just before noon to do a building evaluation. “It's a couple thousand pounds laying up there on the roof.”

Felstrup said he doesn't know what could have caused the decorative facade on the 86-year-old building to fall onto the roof.

“Over time, I'm sure water has affected the mortar and whatever else but I don't think there was a big gust of wind or a heavy truck,” he said. “It just seemed to happen. Those aren't anything we would inspect. It was probably inspected when the building was new.”

Washington Street was closed between Jefferson Avenue and Van Buren Street from around 11 a.m. until noon.