After Scott Kelley heard the ground rumbling from bricks hitting the mud and grass, he thought his work with Ashmore Estates was finished.

“It’s over,” he said. “It’s just completely over. I just figured we were done here.”

What Kelley, the co-owner of Ashmore Estates, heard was the sound of the building’s roof hitting the ground.

Dan Ensign, the coordinator at the Coles County Emergency Management Agency, said the storm that hit the village of Ashmore had 40 to 60 miles per hour winds with more than 100 miles per hour gusting winds.

Kelley bought and renovated the formerly abandoned mental care facility in 2006 and has since been running it as a haunted house during Halloween season.

Kurt Crail, mayor of Ashmore, said more than 60 power poles were taken down by the storm.

He said he thinks about 20 properties were damaged by the storm.

Ensign said information from the National Weather Service indicated that most of the damage in Ashmore occurred from straight-line winds, not a tornado.

Crail said most of the damage was commercial.

“It was all stuff that can be fixed,” he said. “So from my perspective, I’d rather see a storm that comes in and does damage to a few buildings instead of us doing a recovery. Nobody got hurt, that’s awesome.”

Crail said people in the village are working on getting everything back to normal.

However, Kelley said normal may not come until summertime.

He said the most damage was done when the roof and the gables fell down.

Despite the roof and debris falling, Kelly said the building is structurally secure.

He said one of the most heartbreaking aspects to the roof coming down is that it was put up four years ago.

Michele Baker, a friend of the Kelley’s, said she heard about the damage to Ashmore Estates from Kelley and was ready to help.

“(My husband and I) were here the day after it happened,” she said. “The next day we were out here cleaning up in the rain and 40 degree weather but we’re getting it done so it doesn’t matter who’s doing it.”

Kelly said four days after the storm, about 40 to 50 people volunteered to help clean up the property.

He said a few friends have organized fundraisers and donation campaigns to help with the cost of a new roof.

Baker said with the Mid-Illinois Ghost Society, she hopes to raise a rough estimate of $50,000 to get a new roof on from a fundraiser in March.

Also, Christopher Saint Booth, a paranormal investigator with Spooked TV, will donate $10 of each Children of the Grave 2 autographed DVD sold to the fund.

Kelley said family and friends are working hard to first clean off the roof then try to put a new roof on.

“We hope it’s something we can afford to rebuild,” he said. “We’ve been working diligently trying to get it cleaned up first, then we got to look at the repairs.”

Seeing the community and friends come together has given Kelley hope that Ashmore Estates can be repaired, he said.

“It turned my whole philosophy around about what to do,” Kelley said.

Tanya Kelley, co-owner of Ashmore Estates, said the building will never be as iconic as it was before.

She said they will probably put a mansard or flat roof on the building to prevent further weather damage.

People will not like the new look, she said, but it will decrease the building being damaged again.

Baker said others who see the building may want it to be torn down but repairing it is worth keeping the history alive.

“It’s important to me,” she said. “This building has a lot of history. It’s been here for almost 100 years. Can you imagine how many people have walked through the doors and how many stories it has?”

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].