Salinas city leaders met with Dick Bruhn Building owner

It’s been more than a week since the Dick Bruhn Building caught fire in Old Town Salinas and still the future of the historic landmark is unclear.

The owner met with city leaders from the building department Fridayto talk about what’s next for the 90-year-old building. They asked the owner to provide a preliminary structural analysis of the building by Monday. That’s when the keys will be given back to the owner.

“That’s just a quick review of the structure to make sure that the building doesn’t provide an immediate hazard,” said Joseph DeSante with the city building department.

DeSante said whatever the owner’s plan are for the future, the city needs to make sure the building is safe for the public. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

“Between Monday and May 2 they will have a crew come in and start cleaning up so the engineers could actually get in and do a more thorough analysis,” said DeSante.

Still, the owner of the Dick Bruhn Building isn’t the only busy one.

“We can’t have the children in the building yet. Until all the smoke has been cleaned out, until all the issues are taken care of, the children won’t be back in the building,” said Gail Higginbotham, the founder of Ariel Theatrical.

Higginbotham runs the children’s theater on Main Street located right next to the Dick Bruhn Building. She said the smell of smoke still lingers, tens of thousands of costumes have to be cleaned and floors and walls ripped out because of all the water damage.

“At the theater it’s a whirlwind, literally we’ve got drying out fans and air purifying fans running 24/7,” said Higginbotham.

But the show must go on! While the theater is closed, all rehearsals and performances are being held off-site.

“What we didn’t do was yell and scream, what we didn’t do is fall apart. We have a really grateful heart because our building is still standing,” said Higginbotham.