Town Shuts Down Secaucus Houlihan's After Ceiling Buckles Under Heavy Snow

SECAUCUS, NJ — The Houlihan's in Secaucus was shut down by the town's building department after the roof started to collapse under heavy snow.

The roof did not entirely collapse, but the ceiling inside the restaurant buckled Tuesday night due to heavy snow on the roof, NJ.com reported. This happened at about 6 p.m. Tuesday and it was patrons dining inside who told the bar they heard "cracking noises" coming from the ceiling.

The Houlihan's was evacuated. It did briefly reopen Tuesday after the evacuation and continued serving meals and drinks, but the Secaucus Building Dept. then shut the restaurant down later Tuesday evening.

That building at Harmon Meadow has a flat roof, which can be very dangerous in heavy snow, which this area usually does not get. But Sunday's blizzard dropped 30 inches of snow on Secaucus and North Jersey. Bubble domes on an ice rink in Westfield and an indoor sports arena in Wall Twp. both collapsed this week under heavy snow. Heavy Snow Collapses Inflatable Sports Dome In Monmouth County

Last week, the Secaucus Building Dept. shut down the PetSmart store due to many issues with water in the building, including that their sprinkler system is not working properly, water is leaking their roof and they have water issues in their bathrooms. That was unrelated to the snow, however, as it was shut down Feb. 20, before the blizzard.