A small-town veterans hall is facing a big-money headache after a second vehicle plowed through its roof in less than three months — just days before the building was set to reopen.
The latest crash at the Clay-Ray Veterans Hall on St. Louis Avenue in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, injured one person and has left the nonprofit scrambling.
“They just got that fixed up,” Lt. Ryan Dowdy of the Excelsior Springs Police Department told KCTV, “I mean, literally the roof is brand new.”
That brand-new roof had only just been repaired after a previous incident on February 15, when a fugitive from Kansas lost control of a vehicle during a police chase and launched it into the same spot.
The Clay-Ray Veterans Hall, located just below a road that curves over a hill, sits in a vulnerable position. Its roof is level with the street, which has a 25 mph speed limit.
Locals say the issue isn’t the road, it’s the drivers. “If you drive the speed limit, it’s not an issue,” said Lisa Reinhart, who lives nearby. “It’s 25 through here, so it shouldn’t be an issue unless you’re blatantly not listening to the speed limit.”
Reinhart was shocked to hear the impact. “It sounded like a gas explosion going off,” she said. “It rattled the windows and everything. It was insane.”
The damage has been more than physical; it’s hitting the veterans group’s finances hard. Chris Stull, president of the Clay-Ray Veterans Association, says the repeated repairs are straining their budget. “It’s crazy,” Stull said. “It’s seriously crazy.”
The American Legion post, which relies on bingo nights for revenue, hasn’t been able to host events during repairs. That also means no income to help pay bills or support local community donations.
Still, the legion has no intention of relocating. “We’re staying here,” Stull said, saying the organization has been at the location for over 100 years.
But staying put doesn’t mean doing nothing. Stull said the association has spoken with city officials about installing a barricade to prevent future crashes.
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While commercial property insurance would typically cover damages like the ones at Clay-Ray Veterans Hall, the frequency of these incidents could lead to higher premiums and potential challenges in policy renewal.