Detroit's Eastern Market building was 'unsafe,' concern for public

A building in Detroit's Eastern Market that partially collapsed over the weekend has been deemed "unsafe" by city officials, leading to an immediate push for demolition.

The city's Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, along with the Detroit Fire Department, inspected and made the call on demolishing the property, said Georgette Johnson, spokeswoman for BSEED, adding that "no one, including a structural engineer, can enter" the property.

However, Preservation Detroit President Devan Anderson, who previously served as commissioner of the Detroit Historic District Commission for 17 years, expressed concerns. He said the logical next step would be sending a structural engineer to look at the building before tearing it down.

Preservation advocate sees no danger of 'catastrophic collapse'

"It's weird to me that the city is rushing to demolish. It would be interesting to know what caused this localized failure before the city rushes to demolish this," Anderson said. "It doesn't look like this building needs to be condemned."

Anderson sent a letter to the mayor's office and City Council members urging officials to pause on demolition and have a licensed structural engineer investigate the site.

"The building and its reinforced concrete frame still appear to be in excellent structural condition," Anderson said. "This building is not in immediate danger of a catastrophic collapse — and any further danger to the public could be easily mitigated with no-parking signs and sidewalk closures. Or at most a road closure and some temporary protective scaffolding."

Streets around the building were closed Monday.

"Based on the way the fourth floor failed, it looks like the roof was just held up with bricks," Anderson said. "This is part of the reason we want a structural engineer to go inside."

Anderson told the Free Press that the building is wide enough and should contain interior structural columns, but because of the way the masonry "failed" along the side of the building, "it looks like the masonry is carrying the perimeter slab of these concrete floors.

A history of blight violations

BSEED Director David Bell said in an earlier statement that a complete damage assessment has not been performed because of concerns about the health and safety of anyone entering. The current assessment includes the south facade collapsing onto the sidewalk below from the third and fourth floor, and a structurally unsound roof.

Messages were left for property landlord Scot Turnbull. The city of Detroit declined to provide recent inspection and certificate of compliance records without a Freedom of Information Act request. Since 2007, the property has received nine blight violations, city records show.

Demolition remained in the bidding process Monday and a timeline had not been set, according to Cara Ball, spokesperson for the construction and demolition department. Johnson said that BSEED conducts inspections every two years on commercial buildings, but did not immediately respond to requests for building inspection reports. The investigation remains underway.

Mayor Mike Duggan declined to comment and deferred to "experts on building safety matters," according to spokesman John Roach. The city is rushing toward demolition because the building is "in the middle of a public market that sees high volumes of foot traffic and the collapse already caused one injury and could have caused a lot more," Roach said in an email.

"The structural condition of a building, whether it is close to (or attached to) another occupied building or close to a public sidewalk (as opposed to set back from the sidewalk) are among the factors considered," Roach added.

Council President Mary Sheffield said the public's safety is her top priority.

"In light of the situation with the partial collapse of the building in Eastern Market, the safety of the public, business owners, workers and patrons is our chief concern. With that said, we will do everything in our power in conjunction with the City’s Building Safety Engineering and Environmental Department to ensure that if the building is salvageable, it is safe first and foremost," Sheffield said in a statement.

The Del Bene Building was built in 1897 and houses Jabs Gym, J'adore Detroit, Detroit Vs. Everybody, Brooklyn Outdoor and Beyond Juicery and Eatery. Tenants are expected to plan for relocation. Detroit Vs. Everybody started a GoFundMe page, seeking to recoup $150,000 in lost costs toward merchandise, store renovations and production equipment.

Staff writer Nour Rahal contributed to this story.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Eastern Market Del Bene Building deemed 'unsafe' for city