Work surrounding the partial collapse of a downtown Davenport apartment building at 324 Main St. is entering a new phase. However, emotions still seem to be running high over the issue with a protest and lawsuits in the works.
Some of the upcoming events concerning the building collapse include:
- Protesters plan to gather at Davenport City Hall, 226 W. Fourth St., at 4:30 p.m. today (June 7) for a protest march.
- Also, one of the protest organizers, Moselle Singh, is supporting a petition calling for the Davenport Mayor Mike Matson to resign.
- The Davenport City Council Committee of the Whole is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. today at city hall. The council is expected to approve $600,000 in assistance to help the tenants of the apartment building.
- Lawsuits have begun to be filed accusing the city as well as the building’s current and former owners of knowing the deteriorating conditions and failing to warn residents of the risk.
Meanwhile, work on the building site has entered a post-recovery phase after the remains of the last of three missing tenants were recovered. (On Monday, Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said the bodies of the three missing apartment building tenants have been recovered in the ruins. The body of Branden Colvin Sr., 42, was recovered about noon Saturday, June 3; Ryan Hitchcock, 51, was recovered about 12:25 p.m. Sunday, June 4; and crews recovered Daniel Prien, 60, overnight at about 2:30 a.m. Monday.)
Shortly after the bodies were recovered, the Iowa Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue demobilized their unit, concluding the recovery phase of the operation.
“Operations have now transitioned to the dismantling of the partially collapsed building. Crews have cleared the debris pile to the foundation floor and will continue removing debris from the site today,” according to the city’s Facebook page.
City officials said the next phase of the operation will be the demolition of the building. That demolition work has yet to be scheduled, but officials have said the building is dangerous and unstable, and the process to bring it down needs to start as soon as possible.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced today that she sent a letter to President Joe Biden to request federal assistance for Scott County following the May 28 collapse. The request for an emergency declaration includes assistance for debris removal, demolition, reimbursement for response activities, and technical assistance.
“This major structural building collapse is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capability of the state and affected local governments,” reads part of that letter.
Gov. Reynolds toured the building site on Monday, June 5.
Also, some organizations offering support at the building site are finishing their operations. For instance, the Salvation Army of the Quad Cities Area has ended its on-site food service efforts in support of the building site search.
A Salvation Army canteen crew stationed at the scene had been serving meals around the clock since last week. The crew served more than 1,600 meals and snacks to search and rescue personnel and first responders at the scene over a period of five days.
Over the weekend, Salvation Army representatives joined forces with personnel from other local organizations to provide a Multi-Agency Resource Center in the Quad Cities. There, they met with a number of displaced apartment residents to provide a full spectrum of assistance to them. Going forward, area Salvation Army offices will continue to care for displaced residents.
