Roof collapse at South Dakota bank second in a week in Aberdeen

Top two floors of apartment building caved in March 31

Aberdeen city personnel quickly set up temporary fencing around Dacotah Bank on South Main Street Thursday afternoon after a small section of roof started collapsing inside one of the bank’s downtown buildings.

Dacotah Bank’s complex is a series of buildings in the 300 block of South Main Street.

Dacotah Bank President Robert Fouberg said the roof on one of the bank’s five buildings is starting to collapse. It’s the second-to-last building on the north end of the block. It’s about 25 feet wide, he said. Some in Aberdeen might remember it as the former Tradehome Shoes building.

Fouberg said the building houses a couple offices and the bank’s mailroom.

“The roof is collapsing on the Main Street end,” he said.

Fouberg said employees heard several snaps as the roof started collapsing, which allowed the bank to evacuate the building. Mail room equipment was also moved elsewhere, he said.

“We can see it and hear it, it’s just moving glacially,” he said.

NEWS: Lincoln County, West River counties see post-Covid population surges