‘They’re not worth it’: Developers urging public to stay out of vacant grain elevator

By Maddie Augustine

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — From afar, these grain elevator silos are standing tall, but up close tells a different story.

Shattered windows, crumbling concrete and rusted metal ladders just the surface level of safety concerns at the property near 34th and Vinton streets.

“The structure itself is deteriorating a lot,” Charlie Oborny, battalion chief, Omaha Fire Department, said. “So there are some interior ladders in there that are coming off the walls.”

The dilapidated structure is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence and no trespassing signs.

“The issue is people cut holes in the fences,” Patrick Mason, a development team member, said. “They even climb up with barbed wire in certain areas.”

Seemingly, nothing is able to stop curious trespassers.

“This has been an issue,” Oborny said. “This building’s been pretty vacant for quite a while. And there’s always people coming in and out of this. We really have no control over keeping them in and out.”

On Saturday, six juveniles were found inside the structure. One, a young girl, fell 20 feet and was rescued by firefighters before being transported to the hospital. There was another fall in 2017, and that same year, police ticketed a group after they filmed a music video on the site.

“It’s happened, unfortunately, too many times, and that’s why we bought the site,” Mason said. “To get it to a point where they’re not a problem anymore.”

Mason, member of the development team planning the demolition of the silos, said they have crews on site frequently, often securing entrances to the property.

“We’ve put retaining wall blocks in front of openings that you that you literally have to lift with a forklift or a tractor that people have pried open using car jacks and pry bars,” Mason said.

Mason said some have even cut through the welded steel covering openings and others have gone so far to bring their own ladders.

“We’ve got to go back and put crews out there this week and try and seal up openings again that, unfortunately, people just continue to try and reopen,” Mason said.

Each trespasser, Mason said, could be risking their life.

“As a person who’s climbed them very safely using safety equipment and knows the scale of what’s inside of them, it is just not safe for anybody to be up there in any capacity, let alone in that site,” Mason said.

Mason said they knew the risks when purchasing the site, which is why they work so hard to keep people out. He said it comes down to safety, and the bottom line is, the silos aren’t safe. He urges everyone to stay out.

“They’re not worth it. It’s just not worth it at all,” Mason said.

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