A team of structural engineers and construction experts have begun an official investigation into what caused a support column to collapse at Red Ginger last Friday night, resulting in the evacuation of the restaurant. No one was injured in the incident, but public safety concerns resulted in the ongoing closure of the restaurant as well as that of the two businesses sharing its walls, the State Theatre and Horizon Books.

Red Ginger owner Dan Marsh tells The Ticker that "the first thing that needs to happen is we need to get our neighbors back in business." The team's plan today (Tuesday) is to shore up the building's first floor basement so that structural engineers can sign off on the safety of the State Theatre and Horizon Books reopening, a recommendation that will go to Traverse City Fire Chief Jim Tuller for approval.

"Hopefully that's a best-case scenario, where by the end of the day we can get the OK for them to reopen," says Marsh.

Horizon Books Sales Manager Amy Reynolds says the store so far has observed no damage to its building - "no cracks, no broken windows and nothing in the way of shifting." Awaiting updates on a day-to-day basis, Reynolds adds: "We feel very confident in the safety and security of our building...we'll have those doors open as soon as we are allowed to get back to business."

Once Horizon Books and the State Theatre are approved to reopen, Marsh says the next step in the team's plan will be to "go after the cause" of the collapse, and to identify necessary repairs to get the restaurant back in operational condition. "We want to get back up and running as soon as possible," he says.