Cleanup, repairs after helicopter damages Sperry's

A parapet wall at the top of the Sperry's building is mostly gone. Part of a green tiled awning on the east face of the building is collapsed. And a few of the historic building's storefront windows are shattered.

But Larry Jones doesn't regret lending the site to the U.S. Army for training.

"Our police force and fire department and military risk their lives for us every day … and in order for them to do the great job that they do they have to do training," said Jones, president of operations for Sperry's Landmark Inc.

"We were very excited and still am very proud of the training and knowledge they can get from these missions."

The historic Sperry's building was damaged when the U.S. Army conducted training exercises on the building early Monday morning.

Randee Farrell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army, said the damage happened about 1:30 a.m. during urban training exercises designed to prepare military members for overseas deployment.

One group of Army members had already landed on the building, conducted training, and left again. When a second group descended, disaster struck.

"It was as we came in on the descent on the second iteration that it happened," Farrell said. "We stopped training at that point in time."

Farrell said the second group of troops were already on the roof when rotor wash from the helicopter buffeted the brick parapet at the top of the building. The bricks fell onto the building's awning, causing it to collapse into the building's windows on the north side.

No one was injured during the incident.

Farrell said troops stopped training at that point and began to assess the damage. She said nonlethal ammunition had been used during training in the building, but are not believed to have contributed to the damage.

"I think it was just a combination of the rotor wash from the helicopter and the wind and the rain from last evening," Farrell said.

Farrell said the U.S. Army made contact with Jones months ago while it was looking for a vacant, commercial property available during its training timeline.

"The Sperry Building was selected with the safety consideration of a low residential population nearby," Farrell said of the structure located at 301 Huron Ave. in downtown Port Huron.

Farrell said local police and Army public affairs and safety officers established a safe perimeter to avoid residents being injured.

She said Army personnel have since coordinated with Jones for the cleanup and repair costs.

"It was training that was very beneficial to our soldiers and we regret the damage to the building," Farrell said. "But we will repair it immediately."

Jones said crews cleaned up most of the debris Monday, stacking the old bricks and porcelain paneling inside the store for reuse.

He said the sidewalk will remain closed until an engineer can take a closer look at the building. Jones said the engineer and a contractor will determine the cost of repairs to the building.

"I have no idea how much it's going to cost," Jones said. "In the big scheme of thing, it's just a small price to pay for our safety."

Neighbors weigh in on damage, training

Rick Currie Master Goldsmith is next door to Sperry's, but was not damaged by falling bricks.

Owner Rick Currie said he heard about the damage to Sperry's from a neighbor Monday morning.

"Who could have seen that coming?" Currie said. "It's unfortunate that that building sustained damage from that exercise, but they'll fix it, I'm sure.

"I knew they were doing training. I didn't know they were doing it that close to the buildings."

Missy Campau lives with her family in a loft across Grand River Avenue from Sperry's.

Campau said she watched the helicopter drop off and later retrieve military members from the roof of the Sperry's building.

During the helicopter's second approach, she heard a crash but wasn't sure what it was. But when Campau heard shovels outside the building later on, she knew something went wrong.

"That was the last thing that building needed," Campau said. "To see that much destruction to an old building is really sad."

Campau said her family didn't get much sleep Sunday night.

"I completely respect the relevance and need for training," she said. "But does it have to be in such proximity to residents that could be injured?"

J.B Sperry started Sperry's department store in 1893 at 242 Huron Ave. It later was moved to its current location at 301 Huron Ave.

The store closed in 2000, and reopened as a House of Denmark furniture store in 2004. It closed again in 2006.

Sperry's Landmark Inc., owned by Brent Marsall, purchased the Sperry's building in 2011.

Developers plan to build 12 to 13 boutique theaters in the historic building, with seating for 400 and a restaurant overlooking Huron Avenue.

Jones said he didn't expect the damage to delay those plans.

Army exercises in St. Clair County

In addition to training at Sperry's, U.S. Army members also conducted training without incident at the former Port Huron Schools administration building and the former Lakeport Elementary School in Burtchville Township, Farrell said.

About 11:30 p.m. Sunday night, Blackhawk helicopters landed at the old Port Huron Area School District Administration building near Lapeer Avenue and 18th Street in Port Huron.

The soldiers ran from the helicopter into the building where a training scenario was set up. The helicopters vacated the area once the soldiers were inside and returned an hour later after the training mission was complete to retrieve the soldiers.

As the training progressed Sunday night, simulated, nonlethal ammunition sounded and lights in each room of the old school administration building went on and off as soldiers made their way through the building.

Farrell said all aircraft flew at a safe altitude during the training.

"All pilots and crews receive up-to-date safety procedures and training to mitigate any unnecessary risk and limit collateral damage to public and private structures," Farrell said. "The aircraft altitude minimizes the distance the troops have to descend on each location and expedite the offload."

The military training in St. Clair County was part of a U.S. Army training program being held throughout southeastern Michigan that will continue through Friday.

Farrell said 150 troops are participating across southeast Michigan.

The training is based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township. Farrell said training locations were picked based on urban areas that had vacant buildings available for use.

"We have training across the towns in southeast Michigan for the remainder of the week," Farrell said. "We're going to give the notification to the specific area affected the evening of."

Contact Nicole Hayden at (810) 989-6279 or nhayden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @NicoleHayden_TH. Contact Beth LeBlanc at (810) 989-6259, eleblanc@gannett.com, or on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc.