The exterior center section of a 100-year-old, six-story building in Davenport, Iowa collapsed on May 29, leaving its apartment interiors exposed to the elements and three people dead. In its previous life, the Renaissance Revival-style brick-and-steel structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has housed apartments above ground-floor retail spaces since the 1980s, but now the city plans to demolish the broken building, because the remaining structure is unstable.
There could be many reasons for the building's downfall, and officials have not yet announced a cause. However, both the Associated Press and The New York Times reported that the structure had many longtime flaws that needed urgent fixing. Residents had been raising concerns for years about both structural safety and problems with interior spaces, such as air conditioning and plumbing. Authorities found a gas leak and a water leak, and residents reported electrical issues. Water was leaking through multiple floors of the structure after the incident, indicating that leakage had already been a problem.
Some residents said they had been experiencing water damage, and several tenants were afraid of the building collapsing. One resident said her bathroom caved in last December.
Rich Oswald, director of development and neighborhood services for the City of Davenport, said at a news conference after the collapse that exterior building work was underway at the time of the catastrophe. Residents bemoaned that the work came too late. |
The exterior center section of a 100-year-old, six-story building in Davenport, Iowa collapsed on May 29, leaving its apartment interiors exposed to the elements and three people dead. In its previous life, the Renaissance Revival-style brick-and-steel structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has housed apartments above ground-floor retail spaces since the 1980s, but now the city plans to demolish the broken building, because the remaining structure is unstable.
There could be many reasons for the building's downfall, and officials have not yet announced a cause. However, both the Associated Press and The New York Times reported that the structure had many longtime flaws that needed urgent fixing. Residents had been raising concerns for years about both structural safety and problems with interior spaces, such as air conditioning and plumbing. Authorities found a gas leak and a water leak, and residents reported electrical issues. Water was leaking through multiple floors of the structure after the incident, indicating that leakage had already been a problem.
Some residents said they had been experiencing water damage, and several tenants were afraid of the building collapsing. One resident said her bathroom caved in last December.
Rich Oswald, director of development and neighborhood services for the City of Davenport, said at a news conference after the collapse that exterior building work was underway at the time of the catastrophe. Residents bemoaned that the work came too late. |
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