IA - Unknown number of casualties in Davenport apartment building collapse (5/28/2023)

[airportwoman]

I just learned of this newly opened business, a renovated mini-theater that appears to have mainly catered to the LGBTQ+ community. Its owner is devastated, as one could expect. I had never heard of it until one of my Facebook friends, who is heavily involved in the local arts community, posted a short video from the owner.

Performing Arts | The Mockingbird On Main | Davenport, IA

The Mockingbird on Main is a creator-driven performing arts incubator. This page is our way to reach our patrons and friends.

www.themockingbirdonmain.com

 

[airportwoman]

Here are pics of a unit inside of it.

324 Main St - 324 Main St Davenport IA 52801 | Apartment Finder

Nice one bedroom unit open at The Davenport downtown! Walking distance to restaurants, bars, riverfront, bike path, library, ballpark and museum. Tenants only pay electric. No pets or smoking. Address: 324 Main St. #403, Davenport IA 52801 Features: Secure Entrance, Elevators, Large Lobby...

www.apartmentfinder.com

It looks like they renovated it into generic apartments.

And it was 6 floors, not 10. I should have counted them, I guess.

 

[LunaInvidia]

Oh, how horrible. Apparently there's still people missing.

 

[SouthAussie]

The street view that you posted from 2017 shows the building in bad condition, but check out the street view from 2011:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Had they done any proper repairs to the wall in the past 12 years, or had they just given it a coat of spackle and paint to hide the poor condition of the brickwork? If that's the area they were trying to repair when the building collapsed, it was an accident waiting to happen. Even in the picture from 2011 the wall looks like it was barely holding up the floors above.

And in 2019, downtown Davenport (where this apt building sits) was flooded by the overflowing Mississippi River.

Lots of photos in this link, of them trying to hold the flood waters back. I checked on Google maps, the collapsed apartment building is definitely in "Downtown Davenport".
Iowa flooding 2019: Mississippi River floods downtown Davenport


This June 2022 article says that the owners of the building (324 North Main St - called the Davenport building) had applied for 2023 state funds to do a major renovation.

Other major projects in downtown Davenport seeking state funds in the 2023 round include a 40-unit renovation at Mississippi Plaza, 201 N. Harrison St., and a 79-unit renovation at 324 Main St., the Davenport building.
Apartments planned for downtown Davenport bank drive-thru
(May be paywalled but the first article is free.)

 

[Betty P]

Davenport authorities quit rubble search for missing despite family pleas - latest

Cause of the apartment collapse remains undetermined and no deaths have been reported despite three men remaining unaccounted for

www.independent.co.uk

They just rescued a woman buried in the rubble, 5 people are still missing, yet they want to demolish the building?

What's wrong with these people? Can anyone stop them? Better to save someone's life than to pay out lawsuits to family members. I'm confused, what is happening to people?

Building collapse survivor was rescued after family members yelled her name​

Lisa Brooks, who lived in apartment 403, was speaking with a relative on the phone when the building collapsed on Sunday.
For more than 24 hours, family members hoped for a miracle amid reports that demolition was expected to begin this week. But on the eleventh hour, Ms Brooks was rescued by firefighters after she managed to call her daughter and alert authorities to her whereabouts.

Woman rescued uninjured 24 hours after Iowa building's partial collapse

Davenport's mayor says a previously announced plan to start demolition quickly is now “under evaluation.”

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Betty P]

I wonder if they could ask for some outside experts to help determine if there are any living victims still in the building or rubble?

Update: Building collapse leaves woman homeless, says firefighters were warned

Family member says firefighters were told woman was still inside collapsed apartment.

qctimes.com

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/30/us/davenport-iowa-apartment-collapse-demolition-tuesday/index.html

 

[MajorHoople]

5 people remain unaccounted for in Davenport building collapse

WQAD News 8 - May 30, 2023

 

[airportwoman]

So many rumors and contradictions are flying around, I just don't know what to believe about any of this, beyond that It Happened.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Branden Colvin, one of the residents still missing after a building collapsed in Davenport, Iowa, is shown in this undated photo.

It's been nearly 72 hours since a Davenport, Iowa, apartment building partially collapsed, possibly trapping two men inside, including resident Branden Colvin.

Colvin's son, Branden Colvin Jr., said he feels helpless as he waits for answers.

"I know my dad's in there and there's nothing I can do ... wishing I could just run in there," Colvin Jr. told ABC News on Wednesday.

Colvin Jr. said he's not an emotional person, but when he was alone, he said he broke down crying.

"I just want to talk to him, give him a hug, hear his voice, anything," he said.

'My dad's in there': Son desperate for answers in wake of apartment collapse

It's been nearly 72 hours since an apartment building partially collapsed, possibly trapping Branden Colvin inside. His son, Branden Colvin Jr., spoke to ABC News.

6abc.com

*This is incredibly unexpectedly tragic. How horrible to worry if his dad is in the rubble. So sad. I really feel for this guy, but that’s all I can do except post this around. I hope they find him alive. Miracles do happen.

 

[24Roses]

3 still unaccounted for, 2 found safe, city officials say

Davenport officials held a briefing at 10 a.m. Thursday. This was the third briefing since the collapse on Sunday.

www.kwqc.com

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Three people are still unaccounted for, two were found safe in Texas and locally, according to City officials in a news conference Thursday.

Davenport officials held a briefing at 10 a.m. Thursday. This was the third briefing since the collapse on Sunday.

Jeff Bladel, the Chief of Police Jeff Bladel said since the initial information that five people were unaccounted for police have made contact with two, one in Texas and one locally. Their families have also been in contact.

Daniel Priam is still unaccounted for, Bladel said. Brandon Colvin and Ryan Hitchcock are still believed to have potentially been in their apartments in the area of the collapse at the time the building had partially collapsed.

 

[ifindedout]

A treasure trove of recent city documents for the property, not sure what to call it, so I'm just going to post it:
324 Main Street Partial Building Collapse

 

[d4j]

title: Contractor said he warned of Davenport building collapse
by: Sarah Watson, Gretchen Teske
published: 2023-05-31 Wed
link: (has paywall)

Contractor said he warned of Davenport building collapse, told workers 'Get away. You’re going to die'

About three months before the partial collapse of a downtown Davenport apartment building — and again just two days before — a masonry company owner said he predicted it was

qctimes.com

...
Ryan Shaffer, co-owner of R. A. Masonry, was working nearby at 112 W. 3rd St. ... in February.

Shaffer said {owner Andrew} Wold asked him to supply a quote for work on the nearby apartment building. {Shaffer's} bid was rejected because it was too high.

"He {Wold} wanted to cut the cost by cutting out the shoring and supporting of the building," Shaffer said.

"I said, 'If we don't do it this way exactly, I'm not putting my guys in there. Somebody is going to die.' "
...

 

[angelainwi]

Just in:

Search/rescue team is on scene of downtown Davenport collapse

Rescue teams are preparing to re-enter the partially collapsed building.

qctimes.com

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

A treasure trove of recent city documents for the property, not sure what to call it, so I'm just going to post it:
324 Main Street Partial Building Collapse

Thank you for posting this. And for what it's worth, this looks BAD IMO.

In my previous post I mentioned that the wall looked really unstable as far back as 2011. In these city documents it's stated that work had been done on the wall at some undetermined point in the past. Concrete block had been used to rebuild the interior of the building, but the old brick facade had been left intact. Two very large windows had been bricked over but not properly filled in, resulting in a weakness in the load-bearing wall; the internal drywall was bulging and the brick facade was also bulging and crumbling, suggesting the wall wasn't supporting the weight of the floors above.

Since February 2023, work had been ongoing to replace the weakened wall. But every time the workers removed a section of the brick facade, they saw more and more problems. Without proper shoring and working slowly, removing and repairing only 3-4 feet of wall at a time, there was a high probability the wall would collapse.

The area they were working on at the time of the collapse appears to have been the area around the two large windows--the very area that, IMO based on the engineering reports, had been responsible for the problems with the wall in the first place.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Just in:

Search/rescue team is on scene of downtown Davenport collapse

Rescue teams are preparing to re-enter the partially collapsed building.

qctimes.com

Is this happening now? Isn't it going to be dark soon?

 

[d4j]

title: Embattled Inspector Resigns After Apartment Building Collapse in Iowa
by: Josh Fiallo
published: Jun. 01, 2023 11:59AM ET
link: (paywall)

Embattled Inspector Resigns After Apartment Building Collapse in Iowa

Three people are feared to be trapped inside the rubble of the partially collapsed building.

www.thedailybeast.com

The chief building inspector in Davenport, Iowa, resigned this week amid backlash for potential failures that preceded an apartment building’s partial collapse on Sunday. ...

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

title: Contractor said he warned of Davenport building collapse
by: Sarah Watson, Gretchen Teske
published: 2023-05-31 Wed
link: (has paywall)

Contractor said he warned of Davenport building collapse, told workers 'Get away. You’re going to die'

About three months before the partial collapse of a downtown Davenport apartment building — and again just two days before — a masonry company owner said he predicted it was

qctimes.com

...
Ryan Shaffer, co-owner of R. A. Masonry, was working nearby at 112 W. 3rd St. ... in February.

Shaffer said {owner Andrew} Wold asked him to supply a quote for work on the nearby apartment building. {Shaffer's} bid was rejected because it was too high.

"He {Wold} wanted to cut the cost by cutting out the shoring and supporting of the building," Shaffer said.

"I said, 'If we don't do it this way exactly, I'm not putting my guys in there. Somebody is going to die.' "
...

Oh boy. IMO it sounds like the building work that caused the collapse was being done on the cheap by the building owner, rather than by a proper engineering company.


A separate permit for brickwork was filed on Wednesday, May 24. City records indicate the job consisted of replacing 100 feet of brick on the exterior of the building, per city code.

The permit says the work came at a cost of $3,000. The contractor on the job is listed as “owner.”

“(Wold) was calling us and asking for I-beams and stuff to support it. I looked at it and was like, ‘There’s no saving it at this point,’” he said.

 

[Puzzles8]

I wonder if they could ask for some outside experts to help determine if there are any living victims still in the building or rubble?

Update: Building collapse leaves woman homeless, says firefighters were warned

Family member says firefighters were told woman was still inside collapsed apartment.

qctimes.com

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/30/us/davenport-iowa-apartment-collapse-demolition-tuesday/index.html

I would hope some type of 'heat seeking' technology has been used.

The three that remain missing lived in apartments that were directly involved in the building collapse.

Three people who lived in the crash zone remain missing. Rescuers have been trying to find Branden Colvin Sr., Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien, whose apartments were in the massive section of the building that disintegrated Sunday afternoon, police said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/us/davenport-iowa-building-collapse-thursday/index.html

IMO, the Davenport collapse raises many other concerns for all buildings built over one hundred years ago. Maybe these older buildings should be subjected to more strenuous and frequent engineering reviews.

JMO

 

[LaborDayRN]

I would hope some type of 'heat seeking' technology has been used.

The three that remain missing lived in apartments that were directly involved in the building collapse.

Three people who lived in the crash zone remain missing. Rescuers have been trying to find Branden Colvin Sr., Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien, whose apartments were in the massive section of the building that disintegrated Sunday afternoon, police said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/us/davenport-iowa-building-collapse-thursday/index.html

IMO, the Davenport collapse raises many other concerns for all buildings built over one hundred years ago. Maybe these older buildings should be subjected to more strenuous and frequent engineering reviews.

JMO

Does anyone know if dogs have been brought in? My state (CA) sent dogs and handlers (along with other needed equiptment) to Turkey after their last earthquake. The dogs are fantastic at finding people.

 

[Gemmie]

A treasure trove of recent city documents for the property, not sure what to call it, so I'm just going to post it:
324 Main Street Partial Building Collapse

I think you called it spot on. A treasure trove. Wow. Great find!