T-L Photo/SHELLEY HANSON MEN WORK to remove loose portions of a building collapsing on Belmont Street in Bellaire on Friday while standing in a bucket lift.

BELLAIRE — A Belmont Street building is collapsing in downtown Bellaire.

Bricks began falling off the building, located at 3230 Belmont St., forcing officials to close a portion of the sidewalk in front of it.

A neighboring beauty salon business, owned by Mike Doyle, who is also a village councilman, had to be closed Thursday as a safety precaution.

“I got a call in the morning that there were 100 bricks on the sidewalk,” he said.

Doyle said Friday he was told by the building owner’s demolition contractor that it is now OK to use his building.

“I was told the initial problem areas were secure and it was safe for patrons to go in there,” he said, noting the shop reopened Friday for business.

He noted the village is expected to have an independent inspector take a look at the damage on Monday.

The vacant building has had issues for about a year.

“A year ago it started imploding on itself,” he said. “It’s a mess.”

However, Doyle said he is hopeful the matter will be taken care of by the owner, listed in county records as Cecillia DeLong of Shadyside.

“It’s unfortunate … but she appears to be taking care of the building,” he said.

Doyle noted he is having his building checked as well.

“We’re assessing the situation,” he said.

DeLong could not be reached Friday for comment.

Bellaire Police Chief Dick Flanagan said the men working to remove loose portions of the building on Friday afternoon were hired by the property owner, not the village of Bellaire.

Councilwoman Nikki Liberatore said Friday there are several properties in the village that are blighted because of a lack of care from the owners.

“This particular owner has quite a few properties in town that look this way, commercial and residential. Not only is this vacant property a blight on the downtown, it’s unsafe. It’s not fair to the property owner next door that maintains his property and lost a day of business because of it,” she said. “I’m sure our code enforcer (Flanagan) has made several attempts to get her into court, but the wheels of government turn very slowly. I have faith this building will come down at the owner’s expense, hopefully in the near future.”