Barn, more than 100 years old, collapses in Clinton Twp.
CLINTON TWP — An old barn at 130 Jack Road in Clinton Township collapsed overnight and was discovered in ruins Tuesday morning, with several animals still missing.
Marilyn Merbach, the barn’s owner, said she keeps five goats and only found two Tuesday morning. The three missing goats weren’t found inside the barn, she said.
No one was injured in the collapse, said emergency responders who were called to the structure Tuesday morning by a neighbor.
Merbach said the barn is more than 100 years old. She said the old home it was built to serve was constructed in 1896, but she wasn’t sure about the barn’s exact age. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.
“I don’t know why it went down,” Merbach said. “It just was time.”
Her land is John Jack’s old farm, Merbach said. John, she said, was father to Joe Jack, who owned businesses such as Jack’s Ford, Jack’s Mobile Homes and Jack’s Restaurant, according to his obituary.
Merbach said she’s owned the land since 1978.
“It was an old barn,” she said. “And it was starting to lean. The repair work was more than is affordable.”
A neighbor called the collapse in to emergency responders Tuesday morning, Merbach said.
Merbach said the goats may have been inside when it fell. Besides the animals, all that was inside was this year’s hay crop. She wasn’t sure how to salvage the hay.
