The 324 Main Street building in downtown Davenport is now fully dismantled and cleanup has begun at the site of the May 28 partial collapse, the City of Davenport announced Wednesday, June 21.
The disaster three people dead, several others injured and dozens of residents displaced. Site cleanup is expected to take several weeks, the city said, and the public should expect an increase in vehicles in and around the site as well as exiting at Fourth and Harrison streets as debris is removed.
Site demolition work was initially delayed while rescue workers sought to recover three residents still missing in the rubble of the partially collapsed six-story apartment building called The Davenport.
The site entered the “post-recovery phase” after the city announced during a June 5 news update that the remains of the last of three missing tenants had been recovered. The body of Branden Colvin Sr., 42, was recovered on June 3; Ryan Hitchcock, 51, was recovered on June 4; and crews recovered Daniel Prien, 60 on June 5.
As site cleanup begins, work is expected to continue by the Chicago-based White Birch Group, LLC and SOCOTEC Engineering, who the city hired to conduct a cause and origin report on the partial collapse.
Both firms are highly regarded and have considerable experience in this type of investigation, the city said. The duration of the assessment is not known at this time, staff said in an earlier release.
The completed report will first be shared with relevant agencies and oversight authorities. Then, city leaders said, “when deemed appropriate, it will also be shared with the public.”
Quad Cities assistance efforts also continue for those who were displaced from their homes at The Davenport and those living in adjacent impacted apartment buildings that included The Berg, The Bayer and Executive Square as well as for the 18 — mostly small – businesses that were impacted and the estimated 50 people put out of work by the disaster.
