Bury St Edmunds: Clean Up Underway After Fire

23 June 2012, 09:18 | Updated: 23 June 2012, 09:23

A big clean up operation is getting underway today in Bury St Edmunds - a week since a big fire at an historic restaurant.

Around a hundred and twenty people had to be evacuated from Strada, which is in the listed Cupola House, after the fire started last Saturday. 

St Edmundsbury Borough Council says that engineers have made good progress with reducing the height of the chimneys and have also been able to take down the unstable wall. They have now been removing the remaining loose tiles and fittings to prepare the site for work today. 

It is planned to clear the rubble from the building.  The engineers will use the lower end of Skinner Street as access to the rear of the building and put the debris into large skips. The Fire Service remains in attendance to damp down smouldering material. Fire officers were making an assessment of progress yesterday -  with a view to allowing the four businesses on the Buttermarket to regain access to their properties, although reopening may be dependant on making good. 

Scaffolding is in progress to shore up the façade of Cupola House. It will take a week to erect. The scaffolding will support the front, pass through the windows and be secured behind, forming a sandwich. 

A photographer has recorded the condition of the façade before it is enclosed in the scaffolding. The Conservation Team have been contacted by lots of people and businesses, offering information about the building's history. 

Regular meetings continue to be held with the businesses and residents who have been affected by the event.

Business still closed:

Lloyds Bank

Nationwide Building Society

Specsavers

Phones 4 You

Sahara -  plans to trade from a unit on Cornhill Walk

Jessops

Bella Lingerie

Residents are being invited to contribute memories of Cupola House to create a record of the role the building has played in the history of the town. The memories can be personal or historical and they will be published on the borough council website. 

Memories can be left at the whiteboards being staffed in the town centre, at the Tourist Information Centre or at Moyse's Hall, or emailed to communications@stedsnc.gov.uk or posted to The Communications Unit, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU 

Information continues to be posted on white boards outside Croasdales Chemists in the town centre and on the council website at www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk. 

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http://www.heart.co.uk/suffolk/news/local/bury-st-edmunds-work-being-done-after-fire/