A roof partially collapsed in the soon-to-be Rio Grande restaurant in downtown Loveland on Wednesday afternoon after a construction mishap, according to officials. Both adjacent businesses are closed until the building at 225 E. Fourth St. is deemed safe again.
Billie Colson, who owns Independence Gallery adjacent to Rio Grande, said she heard a loud boom sometime between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday.
“There were three of us in there, and all three of us were like … ‘What was that?’” Colson said.
A motorcyclist passes by a building at 225 east Fourth Street Thursday, Oct. 2, 2026, where the roof collapsed after a construction crew hit a support beam with machinery on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Loveland. (Jenny Sparks/Loveland Reporter-Herald)
Colson said she soon after walked outside and, through a small crack in the construction, she said she could see a ceiling rafter was out of place and bricks splayed out from what she assumed was a collapsed wall.
Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Assistant Chief Tim Smith said a contracted worker operating machinery struck a support beam inside the building, causing part of the roof to collapse. Smith described the roof as an interior roof below a void space beneath the actual roof.
Nobody was hurt and no one immediately called for help, Smith said. The fire department responded around 4:30 p.m. after someone passing by reported that something looked wrong. Smith said that was when firefighters evacuated everyone from the adjacent buildings — Lighthouse Dance and Independence Gallery.
Smith said everyone was evacuated and that the adjacent businesses were closed as a precaution.
“(Structural engineers) said it is an unsafe structure and that those two adjoining occupancies need to be vacated until this shoring can take place to stabilize it,” Smith said, adding that it’s up to the contractors to make the building safe again.
Smith explained that a now leaning support beam is supporting a majority of the roof and the building’s weight. He explained that each business on that street is connected, and that if the beam continues to fall, it could cause a shared wall to collapse.
A view of a building at 225 E. Fourth St. shows loose bricks and an uneven roof on the inside of the structure Thursday, the day after a construction crew operating machinery hit one of the support beams causing it to collapse in downtown Loveland. (Jenny Sparks/Loveland Reporter-Herald)
Colson said the gallery being forced to close will be difficult, adding that the nearly constant construction and street closures on Fourth Street this year have caused less customers to visit. On Thursday, several couldn’t pick up their framed pieces, she said.
“It’s been pretty quiet still … it’s not appealing to walk by stuff like that,” Colson said.
Another downtown business owner, Laurie Doescher of Canyon Collectables, said her power was turned off as a precaution Wednesday and didn’t come back on until Thursday morning. The store opened late Thursday, Doescher said.
“It was frustrating … They see this, and they don’t know that I am open,” she said.
The closure also caused Lighthouse Dance to move their classes elsewhere, but 10-year-old Gloria Rodriguez didn’t know, and showed up Thursday afternoon for her hip-hop and ballet classes anyway.
“I’m fine because I still kind of have to finish school,” she said.
The Mexican restaurant is slated to open early next year, according to BizWest. Rio Grande didn’t respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Smith didn’t provide an estimate for how long it would take for the building to be deemed safe again, but Colson said she’s hoping for just a few days.
“If it’s early next week, OK, but we have the studio tour the following weekend,” she said. “And I am supposed to celebrate our 20th anniversary in October.”
Independence Gallery has a sign at the entrance warning people that the building is unsafe to occupy and the sidewalk is blocked off on the 200 block of east Fourth Street on Thursday. The gallery is near a building with a collapsed roof after a construction worker hit a support beam with machinery. (Jenny Sparks/Loveland Reporter-Herald)
Dining and Cooking