Part of the historic French Market building, including Café du Monde, was evacuated and shops were forced to close Friday after a damaged roof joist was discovered. Authorities cleared out the upriver end of the building Friday afternoon and restricted access in the area along Decatur Street adjacent to Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

Cafe du Monde owner Jay Roman denied earlier media reports of a partial roof collapse. Roman, who spoke with Fox 8 outside the French Quarter landmark, described the issue as “a

The roof needs emergency repair so New Orleans police was on scene helping clear people from the building and taping off the scene. The damage is to the roof joist on Building A but is not directly above Cafe Du Monde,