Driver Hits Historic Manchester Building

A Manchester photography studio and insurance office are open for business again after a car hit the building at the intersection of Manchester Road and Henry Avenue.

According the , officers got the call around 1:45 a.m., Dec. 24.

Manchester Police Captain Chuck Hunn tells Town and Country-Manchester Patch that a woman driving a 2009 Mitsubishi Galant struck the building at 14394/14390 Manchester Road which housed and . Hunn said initially the woman veered of the road and hit the building with the right front of her car, but the impact caused extensive damage to the car and the building.

"It totaled the car," Hunn said. "The building had to be boarded up and the city engineer came out and deemed it unsafe at the time."

Terry Deguentz, fire marshal with , was on the scene the night of the crash.

"It's one of the historic buildings in downtown Manchester, so with it being that old, the entire building is supported by columns and they're wood columns, so when the car crashed into the building, it took out one of the posts and it started sagging and leaning," Deguentz tells Patch. "It's the old construction type called the balloon construction."

Both businesses tell Patch that although they were closed for a while, they are now back in the building and open for business.

"Business is still interrupted, but the building was closed for about a week. They brought in a specialty company that shored the building up so they could get inside and conduct engineering evaluations," Deguentz said.

Hunn said the female driver was arrested and charged. He said police suspected driver impairment at the time of the crash.