Demolition timeline for Davenport building unclear after resident reported rescued

DAVENPORT — After a report that a woman had been rescued from a partially collapsed apartment building in downtown Davenport sometime Monday afternoon, the city appeared to back off a plan to immediately demolish the building Tuesday.

The Quad City Times reported that Lisa Brooks, whose relatives had been gathered outside the building, saying she was missing, had been rescued after she called a relative on her cell phone, and that others who believe loved ones are still trapped there were pushed back by police after they tried to get closer to the cordoned-off building.

The city in a news release late Monday said that rescue teams "located and extricated a victim. Due to the nature of her injuries and entrapment, extraction took an extended period of time." It did not say when the rescue occurred and made a subsequent reference to events Sunday, when another person had been located and rescued.

City spokeswoman Sarah Ott had said in a statement that the Davenport Fire Department had transitioned from rescue operations about 9:45 a.m. Monday, with plans to begin demolition of the remainder of the building on Tuesday.

However, the city said in the news release late Monday that "currently, there are unaccounted for individuals that were residents of the property. (The Davenport Police Department) is continuing to attempt communication with individuals that are unaccounted for, including being in contact with families of those individuals."

It said an independent structural engineer hired by the city to evaluate the building believes "that the debris pile is currently contributing to the stability of the building and that removal could jeopardize or accelerate the inevitable collapse of the building. Building officials are working with Valley Construction on a plan to safely dismantle and demolish the remaining structure."

The release said the city will hold a news conference on the situation Tuesday.

Ott said in the earlier news release Monday that because of the building's shaky condition, residents wouldn't be allowed back inside to retrieve their belongings. She said those displaced may seek assistance from the Red Cross or Salvation Army.

Search with trained dogs finds no bodies

In a news conference Monday morning, Mayor Mike Matson said rescuers with six search dogs had worked throughout the night in the building at 324 Main St. Also speaking was Fire Chief Mike Carlsten, who said there "are no confirmed deaths at all at this time" and no other people were known to be trapped in the building.

Carlsten and Matson declined to release the condition of the hospitalized person freed from the building Sunday. Carlsten also did not say how many other people may have suffered injuries.

On Sunday, there were rescues "out of multiple floors and multiple locations" in the building, which has 84 residential and commercial units, he said.

Matson credited the apparent lack of deaths to the immediate response by Davenport Fire Department personnel, who he said went into the unstable building "with no concern about themselves."

"Some are remaining on the scene as we speak currently," he said, adding, "I can't thank them enough."

There were still questions about whether everyone had been accounted for, Carlsten acknowledged, adding that there was "conflicting information."

'Outpouring' of donations should be directed to Salvation Army, community foundation

Matson said numerous emergency agencies from throughout the Iowa-Illinois Quad Cities area had assisted Davenport first responders, as well as Iowa state agencies. He said the rescue and cadaver dogs were brought by Iowa Task Force One from Cedar Rapids.

Seven adults and one child remained in a shelter Monday morning, he said. The rest of the more than a dozen people brought out of the building were sheltering with relatives, friends or others, he said.

Matson said there had been "an outpouring of support from the community" and asked that people wanting to help call 1-800-RED-CROSS. Ott's news release said people wishing to make donations may do so through the Salvation Army or the Quad Cities Community Foundation, which has opened the Quad Cities Disaster Recovery Fund to assist displaced residents of the building.

Donations to the fund may be made online at qccommunityfoundation.org/qcdisasterrecovery.

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In addition, Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday evening issued a disaster proclamation for Scott County that her office said will allow residents affected by the building collapse to receive aid from the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program.

The grant program provides up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($46,060 for a family of three). Grants are available for home and car repairs, replacement of clothing and food and temporary housing expenses.

In the case management program, case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery program. There is no income limit. To apply for either program, go to hhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs.

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Cause of collapse undetermined, but residents had complained

The cause of the collapse around 5 p.m. Sunday was not immediately known. Rich Oswald, city of Davenport director of development and neighborhood services, said at the Sunday news conference that work was being done at the time of the collapse on the red brick exterior of the building, which according to KWQC-TV dates from 1911.

Reports of bricks falling from the building earlier this week were part of that work, and the building’s owner had a permit for the project, Oswald said.

Oswald, who also spoke at the Monday news conference, said an investigation will begin once the building is cleared.

Owner of business in building says conditions were poor

Jennifer Smith, co-owner of Fourth Street Nutrition, a business on the ground floor of the building, said she learned of the collapse from her husband, who works for MidAmerican Energy, the city's utility provider.

“He was on call and got called in for a building explosion downtown. We had no idea it was our building,” she said. “It sounds bad, but we have been calling the city and giving complaints since December. Our bathroom caved in December.”

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Smith said water damage has been apparent since they moved into their space in the winter. The company's co-owner, Deonte Mack, said fire crews were in the building as recently as Thursday for an inspection.

“The tenants told us the building was going to collapse,” Smith said.

One of those tenants was Schlaan Murray, who said his one-year stay in the building was “a nightmare.”

Murray, 46, moved into his apartment in February 2022 and almost immediately began having issues. The heat and air conditioner didn't work, and there were plumbing problems in the bathroom.

He made multiple calls to the management company, and rarely got a response. Occasionally, he said, a maintenance person would stop by, but never completely fix the problem.

“They would come in and put some caulk on it,” he said. “But it needed more than that. They didn’t fix stuff. They just patched it up."

He questions how the building passed inspections.

“It was horrible,” Murray said, adding that he felt the conditions were so bad that he didn’t want to bring his children to his apartment.

Murray said he moved out a month before his lease was up in March and still hasn't received his security deposit. While he criticized conditions at the building, he said many residents were like him and would have had a difficult time coming up with first and last month's rent, plus a security deposit, to move to another apartment.

Resident recounts narrow escape

The Quad-City Times reported Robert Robinson, who lived on the building's second floor, walked outside for a smoke break and went back in as alarms went off.

“When we started to go back in, the lights went out,” he told the newspaper. “All of a sudden, everybody started running out saying the building collapsed. I’m glad we came down when we did.”

Robinson and his girlfriend were able to take the elevator down just in time, he said.

“This is horrible,” he said. “We don’t have anywhere to go. Nothing to eat.”

The Quad-City Times reported the building is owned by Andrew Wold. A working phone number for Wold was not immediately available Sunday night and attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

According to the county assessor’s office, the last permit for the building was filed on March 2 and had “misc” listed in the description. In 2022, nearly 20 permits were filed, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Davenport bulding's demolition plan unclear after resident rescue report