Saving a piece of Ohio history with shrink-wrap

An accidental grease fire in the former courthouse and First National Bank in Cadiz, OH on May 6, 2011 left a historical building in ruins, four tenants homeless and a store out of business.

Today, owners Tom and Vicki Cole report that they want to restore the building in spite of the fire damage.

Official suspect the eight-alarm fire started when a tenant in the building left potatoes frying on her stovetop and walked away to chat with a neighbor. Firefighters used over 100,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze, which caused extensive water damage to the second and third stories of the building. Additionally, a gap in the roof left by the fire allowed rain to pour in and add to the excessive moisture already in the historic building, causing mold damage.

Wanting to preserve the town’s historical connection to the old courthouse, the Coles plan to shrink-wrap the building to protect it from further water damage. Tom Cole states the shrink-wrap material is made out of a polyurethane material that professionals will stretch over the entire roof after crews place boards over the windows. After wrapping the roof, the Coles will work on clearing the burned debris and restoring the burned building even though they are not sure how they will use it, as they did not have a business continuity plan in place.