City officials this week have been deciding the future of the building that housed Kewanee’s first shopping center.

The building at the east end of the Midland Plaza shopping center was damaged in Monday night’s EF-1 tornado that hit Kewanee.

Keith Edwards, the city’s community development director, inspected the building Tuesday.

A structural engineer also was at the building Tuesday afternoon, and is to offer a professional opinion on whether it can be repaired.

Edwards said he hopes to have the engineer’s report by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the businesses in the shopping center are “supposed to stay closed until we get the engineer’s report,” he said.

The shopping center houses a tax preparation office, an insurance office, a vape store and a beauty parlor, as well as the dental office of Dr. Stephen Rider.

Edwards said that while the building itself appears to be safe, the awning over the sidewalks is the main concern.

“The building itself doesn’t appear to be in a dangerous situation right now,” he said, but he added, “We don’t want people walking around under that awning.”

Bracken’s Shopping Center opened in the late 1950s. It was eventually absorbed into Midland Plaza.