Historic Brennan's restaurant suffers ceiling collapse

The original Brennan's restaurant in the French Quarter has become a major construction site in recent months. A mishap Tuesday had a portion of the old building crumbling.

Construction crews went back to work Wednesday at the Royal Street restaurant after a ceiling collapsed Tuesday.

A major renovation has been going on here for about four months. It includes a combination of electrical and plumbing updates to a complete style revamp.

Wednesday traffic was blocked on the street while cement trucks were brought in to do more work. Greg Beureman, a spokesperson for the property, said around 3 p.m. Tuesday one of the columns that supports the second floor collapsed. A portion of the second floor came crumbling down into the first floor.

No workers were injured in the process.

Structural engineers were on site Tuesday evening and Wednesday to determine what happened and why, but right now there is no clear indication about what caused the collapse.

Although Beureman said the property dates back to the late 1700s, and these are things that tend to happen in old buildings.

There is no indication about how this will impact the construction and renovation process, since Beureman said the owners do not have a hard opening date.

The spokesperson said owner Ralph Brennan is putting his own mark on the property. He said it will not be a carbon copy of anything that has been at the site before. It will have a new concept and a new name.

See original here:
Historic Brennan's restaurant suffers ceiling collapse