The City of Davenport has hired two firms to look into the causes of the collapsed building that killed three people, but it won’t let the public review the contracts.

The city says it could bypass the bidding process and city council completely, citing its emergency purchasing powers.

Davenport Alderman Judith Lee says she only heard about the contract while reading the news. She told IPR the city should release it.

“Of course it should be public. It’s being paid for by public funds.”

Fellow Davenport Aldermen Derek Cornette wrote in an email he too had not been given the contract.

Davenport Chief Strategy Officer Sarah Ott announced the contract last week. She did not offer an explanation of why the city is withholding it from public view.

It’s unknown what the contract will cost, what the scope of its work will be and whether there’s a timeline for its work.

A Scott County judge has ordered the City of Davenport to immediately stop "demolition activity" at the apartment building that collapsed nearly three weeks ago.

After a Friday hearing, the judge also ordered the city and its contractors to halt "removal of any material or debris" from the site.

Lexus and Quanishia Berry are suing the city and the owner of The Davenport.

The order in the case will be in effect until Tuesday night. The judge finds the plaintiffs' experts will be "allowed to visit the site to inspect, survey, photograph and engage in any activity which does not destroy, alter or taint evidence."

Davenport must also "develop a written protocol for inspection of the site" and it must "address preservation and inventory" of items "designated to be preserved."

A judge has blocked an attempt to pause the ongoing demolition of the Davenport apartment building that partially collapsed in May.

The emergency motion came from the legal team of two former residents currently suing the building’s owner, the city and others for negligence. They say the demolition destroys valuable evidence in the process and that the city did not adequately notify them of demolition beginning again this week.

Judge Jeffrey Bert rejected the motion, saying the whole process has been subject to “intense publicity.” The judge says the legal team further failed to comply with Iowa’s rules for notifying parties of such filings.

Crews are knocking down the remainder of the partially collapsed Davenport building that killed three residents. The city has hired two engineering firms to investigate the cause and origin of the partial collapse.

The fall killed three people, severely injured one and displaced more than 100 residents of the building and those nearby.

The city says Chicago-based White Birch Group and SOCOTEC Engineering will produce a report that will be first shared with authorities before it’s shared with the public.

The city has not made this contract available for review. And neither firm nor the city answered questions about how much the work will cost and how the firms were selected.

The state’s Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating. Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham told IPR News their report has not been filed to her office.

Zachary Smith

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IPR News

Crews on Monday started demolishing the remains of a six-story apartment building in Davenport that partially collapsed more than two weeks ago, killing three people and leaving dozens homeless.

Workers were using large excavators to dismantle the 116-year-old brick, steel and concrete structure in a process officials said would take several weeks. It’s a difficult task because the building is in the heart of the city’s downtown and is believed to contain asbestos and other potentially hazardous material.

A section of the building fell away May 28, burying three residents in rubble at the base of the structure and forcing others to scramble out of the building. One woman was pinned under the debris and had to have a leg amputated to be pulled to safety.

The city said in a news release Sunday night that officials have been discussing how to tear down the building with structural engineers, regulatory authorities and the company doing the work. As a precaution, the city ordered that residents of nearby apartments vacate their homes during the demolition.

Zachary Smith

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IPR News

A judge has ordered the owner of the partially collapsed apartment building in Davenport to pay a $395 civil fine for not maintaining his building, marking the first judge-ordered fine Andrew Wold has been ordered to pay following the collapse.

City Attorney Tom Warner has said that the size of the fine is inconsequential. He says it prevents Wold from transferring the property and avoiding costs related to its demolition.

While Wold’s attorney was present at the proceedings, Wold wasn’t. Outside, ten people protested saying Wold should have been there in person.

La Shanna Dixon says she understood that it wasn’t a criminal proceeding, but she still felt frustrated Wold wasn’t present.

“He has been hiding the whole time, but he wasn’t hiding when he was collecting money.”

As of Monday, three lawsuits have been filed against Wold, the city of Davenport and others alleging their negligence contributed to the building’s fall.

Following his State of the City address on Monday, Mayor Mike Matson declined to take questions about how the city was changing its inspection process.

The city is in the process of demolishing the building.

Zach Smith

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IPR News

Agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation were in Le Mars last week as part of the agency’s investigation of the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport.

Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of field operations for the DCI, confirmed the agents’ presence in Le Mars, but would only say the agents were doing an “investigative follow up” related to the Davenport building collapse.

Le Mars Police confirm they assisted the DCI, however neither local police nor state authorities are saying who or what may be under investigation.

Sources told KSCJ News that Andrew Wold, who owns the Davenport building, has relatives in Plymouth County.

Zachary Oren Smith/IPR News

As the Class of 2023 at Rock Island High stepped up to the stage to receive their diplomas, DeSiree Banks observed her son’s altered posture and distant demeanor.

She says he looked as if he were going through the motions, moving mechanically in his scarlet graduation robe and cap. The reason was right beside her: an empty seat. On it: a shirt, some buttons — keepsakes set aside for Brandon Colvin Sr.

Colvin Sr. rented a unit on the fifth floor of The Davenport, which partially collapsed on May 28. According to his cousin, Mike Collier, the last he or anyone heard from him was the day before Memorial Day. A mutual friend knocked on Colvin Sr.’s door about three hours prior to the collapse, but Colvin Sr. had responded that he needed some rest first.

On Monday, the city announced that it found the remains of Brandon Colvin Sr., Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien. Colvin’s remains were discovered at noon the day his son walked the graduation stage.

“No answer is gonna be able to fix this. Nothing's gonna be able to fix this. Nothing, nothing at all.”

Now the slow work of holding the responsible accountable has begun.

Read the full story.

On Thursday, the City of Davenport completely evacuated another downtown building located just across the street from The Davenport, which partially collapsed on May 28.

City staff and structural engineers assessed buildings adjacent to The Davenport apartments on Thursday. They're preparing for dismantling and demolition of the six-story building at 324 Main Street.

The city says staff and engineers decided the properties at 400 and 410 North Main St. are "areas of structural concern." The building is known as the Executive Square.

The majority of its apartments were evacuated on May 31. But now, the city has ordered the five remaining residential units to be vacated, emptying the whole building.

Transitional housing agency Humility Homes is trying to find places to live for about a dozen tenants displaced by The Davenport building collapse.

The nonprofit is working with the Red Cross, and other local agencies are looking for permanent housing for a total of about 100 households. Spokesperson Joshua Graves says Humility Homes is trying to identify "lenient landlords" who are willing to help.

"Understanding that all these people that are displaced have no identification, they don't have anything that's going to be needed in a normal lease agreement. And so, whether it be a landlord that's being understanding of that, or being able to help with the first month's rent, or any of those deposits, just being able to be accommodating and understanding during this time."

This weekend, Humility Homes will hold its annual, "Welcome Home Block Party." Graves says it'll include a resource fair so people can get the help they need from a variety of agencies.

Residents of Davenport flocked to Wednesday night’s city council meeting to get answers about the building that partially collapsed in the city’s downtown.

Quad City Times business reporter Gretchen Teske says the city council didn’t have any answers, but they did allocate about $600,000 in funding to help the building’s residents.

“Now the residents inside are getting $5,000 a piece, and then the people surrounding that were affected -- $1,000. There were three businesses, they're each getting $25,000 a piece. Those come from ARPA funds.”

Teske says there isn’t much information about the investigation into what happened, but both the city and state are involved.

Teske made her comments this afternoon on IPR’s River to River.

A Davenport woman who was rescued from the wreckage of the collapsed apartment building is suing the owner and others for negligence. Peach Berry remains in the hospital. Her wife Lexus Berry spoke at a Wednesday news conference.

“All that we want is just accountability to be able to have closure and to know why this happened and to be able to move forward with our lives. We definitely most importantly want you guys to know that we are not victims to the situation. We are survivors.”

Eight hours after the May 28 collapse, Berry was extracted from beneath the rubble. She was trapped until rescuers amputated her left leg above the knee.

The separate lawsuit filed Wednesday by another resident of the building names owner Andrew Wold, several LLCs connected to him, as well as his property management company, engineer firm and contractors. It also names the City of Davenport and the building’s prior owner.

The Berrys’ lawsuit is the second to be filed in connection with the incident.

Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state of Iowa can’t effectively respond to the building that caved-in in downtown Davenport without federal help. She is calling on President Joe Biden to issue an emergency declaration.

According to a letter to Biden, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management reached out to FEMA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well the Army of Engineers for assistance, but without a declaration of emergency from the president, the agencies are unable to render assistance.

The emergency protective measures already in place are estimated to cost between $5 million and $6 million.

Reynolds visited the site of the collapse and was briefed by city staff on Monday.

The Quad Cities Salvation Army has been busy the past five days providing more than 1,600 meals to emergency personnel.

But now that Iowa Task Force One has demobilized and left, the organization has a new task -- finding permanent housing for displaced tenants of the apartment building that partially collapsed over Memorial Day weekend.

Salvation Army spokesperson Patty Mixdorf says the Salvation Army is regrouping.

"Everyone, not just the [Salvation] Army, we are working with several families. We started to do case work with and to try and help them find an apartment. But then it starts with home things for their new apartment. A lot of them don't have anything left."

Finding apartments for displaced tenants of The Davenport apartments will not be easy. Mixdorf says affordable apartments are hard to find.

“Right now, the apartment situation is so tight. We pay for the rent for folks that come into our system and really have terrible trouble finding apartments because they're so expensive right now."

Food, hygiene supplies and clothing vouchers are available at the Salvation Army location at 100 Kirkwood Blvd. in Davenport. Its 4001 North Brady St. location is accepting donations of furniture and other household items, but not mattresses.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending staff from two Florida agencies to the site of a partial building collapse in Davenport.

This past weekend, the bodies of three residents were recovered from the rubble.

DeSantis announced on Twitter that he’s sending staff from his state’s emergency management division and the Florida DOT to assist in the ongoing recovery in Davenport. The agencies were involved in the long recovery after the collapse of a condo building in Surfside, Florida in 2021.

The first lawsuit of what could be many was filed Monday following the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport. Dayna Feuerbach is suing building owner Andrew Wold, LLCs connected to his property, as well as Wold’s hired engineering firm and contractors for negligence and inflicting emotional distress.

The suit says Wold “miserably failed” to satisfy his duties to his tenants. It alleges this negligence exposed more than 50 residents, including Feuerbach, to “extreme and unacceptable” harm that ultimately led to three people – Brandon Colvin, Sr., Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien – dying in the wreckage.

Feuerback, represented by Philadelphia-based structural collapse attorney Jeffery Goodman, is seeking compensation for damages.

Goodman led a plaintiffs’ litigation team that resulted in the $1.2 billion settlement to the families of the 98 people who died and the survivors of the Surfside, Florida Condo collapse in 2022.

“By filing a civil lawsuit, we’re able to help get answers to what happened and why it happened, able to determine who is accountable and hold them accountable and hopefully by doing so to help inspire change," Goodman said.

The City of Davenport, as well as the building’s prior ownership Waukee Investments of Bettendorf and Parkwild Properties, were also named in the lawsuit.

The City of Davenport has found the remains of all three missing men lost to the partially collapsed building.

The body of Branden Colvin, Sr., was discovered Saturday. Ryan Hitchcock’s body was discovered on Sunday and Daniel Prien’s body was found early Monday morning.

Chief of Police Jeff Bladel advised the public to treat the families with respect following the new information.

“We were looking for three missing individuals. We don’t have any other information at this time that there are any additional people missing and or related to this incident.”

On Monday morning, Gov. Kim Reynolds was also in Davenport being briefed on the disaster.

The body of one of three people reported missing in a partially collapsed Davenport apartment building has been recovered.

The family of Branden Colvin, Sr. confirmed to media outlets in the Quad Cities they had been notified by police that his body had been found in the rubble. The confirmation came after Colvin’s son graduated from high school this weekend. Crews have been working in 12-hour shifts to sift through the piles of rubble and remove debris from the site.

City officials have said two other men are unaccounted for and believed to be in the building, which partially collapsed on May 28, over Memorial Day weekend.

The multi-agency responders at the partially collapsed building in Davenport are now turning their attention to shoring and securing the building.

On Thursday night, Iowa Task Force One finished its survey of the building. Three residents are still missing. Thursday night, dogs and handlers were patrolling the wreckage looking for their remains.

In a news conference, Task Force One’s Chief Rick Halleran said their work has to be responsive to the changing conditions of the building to keep his team safe.

“This building — as I’ve stated — is very dynamic. As the temperature rises up and down during the day, this building is expanding and contracting. So it’s talking to us. It’s telling us what it wants to do. Some of it is … as much as we want to, we can’t because the building’s not letting us.”

Already, supports have been installed on the building exterior. While the building will eventually fall, these support will help prevent that collapse from happening on its own.

City Administrator Corri Spiegel said the building is likely “filled with asbestos” based on its age.

City officials say The Davenport apartment building remains structurally unsound and could fall at any time.

There are still three people unaccounted for following the 80-unit apartment building’s partial collapse over Memorial Day weekend. Chief of Police Jeff Bladel says Branden Colvin, Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien are suspected to still be in the wreckage.

Two others who had been listed as missing have been accounted for.

The city had planned to demolish the building Tuesday, but on Monday, a resident was discovered on the fourth floor. Mayor Mike Matson maintains that the city has been focused on rescue efforts.

According to city inspection records, residents of the building suffered from chronic loss of heat and regular water issues. Since the beginning of the year, MidAmerican Energy, the city and the building’s contracted engineer have had concerns about the safety of the building’s western façade.

One moment Lexus Berry and her wife were rushing toward the door of their fourth-floor apartment, and the next, Quanishia “Peach” Berry was gone.

Their apartment disappeared into a heap of bricks and steel far below, leaving Lexis Berry running by herself to a stairwell in the teetering building, panicked that she might never see her wife again.

“The moment that we hit the door, it started to shake and rattle and literally — it all just happened in the blink of a second – the floors caved in, like collapsed,” Lexus Berry said Wednesday. “So as the floors were falling, and she was falling four stories down, there were still two stories above her falling and two stories falling above me. It was all crumbling.”

It took hours before rescuers found Peach Berry trapped in the rubble and then determined one of her legs would need to be amputated to pull her free. Lexus Berry gave her assent. Doctors removed the leg and rushed her to a hospital, mindful that the remainder of the building could come down at any time.

“It’s definitely something that’s like a miracle that she’s here,” Lexus Berry said. “Due to the circumstances, they had to make a judgment call. And that’s the best thing for her, honestly, because she’s still here.”

Three residents of The Davenport are still unaccounted for, according to police.

Earlier this week, authorities said five people were missing, but Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said during a media briefing Thursday morning that two of them have since been accounted for and are safe. One moved out of the building a month ago and was found in Texas, and the other was found locally.

The six-story building partially collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. The city has since released documents, including structural engineering reports, that show the building’s owner was warned that the parts of the building were unstable.

An engineer’s report dated May 24, just days before the collapse, suggested patches in the west side of the building’s brick façade “appear ready to fall imminently” and could be a safety hazard to cars or passersby.

The engineer’s report also detailed that window openings, some filled and some unfilled, were insecure. In one case, the openings were “bulging outward” and looked “poised to fall.” Inside the first floor, unsupported window openings help “explain why the façade is currently about to topple outward.”

“The brick façade is unlikely to be preserved in place, but it can be brought down in a safe, controlled manner,” the report stated.

Andrew Wold, the building’s owner, released a statement dated Tuesday — his first comments since the partial collapse — saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants” and that his company, Davenport Hotel, L.L.C., is working with agencies to help them.

County records show Davenport Hotel, L.L.C. acquired the building in 2021 in a deal worth $4.2 million. The city later declared the building a nuisance due to numerous solid waste violations, and a judge ordered Wold to pay a $4,500 penalty after he did not appear in court.

Before Andrew Wold’s downtown Davenport apartment building partially collapsed, displacing more than 50 residents and leaving five missing, red flags abounded in the inspection history of 324 Main Street.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the city of Davenport released a trove of documents including engineering reports and a log of city code complaints that paint a picture of a troubled property and ominous details leading to its collapse. Far from ignoring these warnings, Davenport officials watched over the property in real-time.

One of the earliest in the city’s records release was from the beginning of 2020. The department was preparing to inspect the building and determine whether it met the requirements for a rental permit. The entry was written by a city inspector with the initials “TCH.”

That inspector wrote the violations at the property — then owned by Waukee Investments LLC — were severe. TCH also wrote that they brought this to the attention of Davenport’s Director of Development and Neighborhood Services Rich Oswald, who said, “I’M NOT AFRAID OF CLOSING THE BUILDING DOWN. GO AHEAD AND PROCEED.”

The inspection did proceed. And the city did not close the building down.

That August, Assistant Fire Marshall Jim Morris reported that bricks were falling from the building’s façade onto the sidewalk below and the wall above the sixth floor was coming loose. City officials met with then-owner Mark Roemer as well as contractors and got to work securing the wall with lumber.

It was at this time that the city began to include Wold in emails involving the building’s inspections with the “understanding” that he was in the process of purchasing the property.

Read the full story.

The City of Davenport has filed its first enforcement action following the partial collapse of a building that displaced more than 50 residents.The Quad-City Times first reported the city is citing building owner Andrew Wold for failing to maintain the structural condition of the building. If convicted, he’ll pay $395. 

Wold bought the building in 2021 for $4.2 million.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, the city has not offered any new updates on the incident.

There are still five people missing following the partial collapse of the building in the city's downtown. Two of those people, Branden Colvin and Ryan Hitchcock, are thought to be in the wreckage.

Davenport city records indicate the city issued three permits since 2020 for repairs to the exterior wall of The Davenport hotel apartment building, which partially collapsed over Memorial Day weekend.

In May, the city ordered the building’s owners to replace 100 linear feet of brick exterior. The city currently notes that The Davenport failed an inspection. However, an archived version of the same permit’s inspection status showed the building passed an inspection.

Davenport Hotel LLC purchased the 16,200-square-foot building in 2021 for $4.1 million. Records show the registered agent for Davenport Hotel LLC is Andrew Wold.

According to property records, the building had 80 units before the collapse. The apartment’s rent ranged anywhere from $600 for a one-bedroom apartment to roughly $1,000 for a three-bedroom.

The nearly 100-year-old building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and was renovated in the 1980s.

Davenport Mayor Mike Matson emphasized during a press conference on Tuesday that an apartment building in the city that partially collapsed on Sunday remains dangerous.

While search efforts continue, a contracted structural engineer says the building could collapse further at any time. The city’s movement toward demolishing the building slowed when resident Lisa Brooks was found on the fourth floor Monday.

“We haven’t demoed it. We understood this … our continuous evaluation of what to do or not to do happened in real time. You did not see anything moving towards that building.”

The collapse leaves over 50 residents displaced. The city is now focused on exhausting recovery options.

The mayor added that donations for the displaced should be sent to the American Red Cross, which is managing recovery efforts.

Zachary Oren Smith

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IPR News

Five people are still unaccounted for following the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport. The city says two of those people are likely still in the wreckage.

Davenport officials were moving ahead with plans for demolishing the building Monday when Lisa Brooks was rescued from the fourth floor. Since then, protesters have called for the city to slow its demolition as two men, Brandon Colvin and Ryan Hitchcock, might still be found.

At a news conference, Hitchcock’s first cousin Amy Anderson said she wants the search to go on, but the threat of further collapse also puts first responder lives at risk.

“It’s a tough balance. It's life for life. It just is a hard situation, but what we ultimately want is them to find and recover Ryan.”

The city says it has halted its demolition plans for now, and will further search for survivors and remains.

Protesters stand outside the collapse site of a Davenport apartment on May 30.

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Zachary Oren Smith

During a press conference Tuesday morning, Davenport Police Chief Mike Blaydel says they now believe two people are still inside the building.

“We have five that are unaccounted for and two that we have a firm belief that are potentially still in that building."

Blaydel says officials have been checking and double-checking sources of information to try and get a list of tenants.

Davenport Fire Marshal James Morris says the apartment remains an unsafe site.

“As has been noted since day one that we’ve responded there that building is unstable and it continues to worsen as time progresses.”

He says they hope to figure out a way to safely conduct another search.

“It’s the opinion of the structural engineer that any additional search operations in the area of that pile debris should be avoided due to potential collapse. We are currently evaluating the risk assessment of where we can go back into that building to do this other search.”

A woman was rescued last night from the building. Davenport Mayor Mike Matson says they do not know how the woman was missed in multiple searches of the building or how she got there.

Matson also addressed concerns raised by protesters when the city said it was preparing to demolish the building with the possibility of people remaining in the rubble. He says they want to do what they can while ensuring no one else is injured or killed.

“We are investigating and evaluating as best as we can with a lot of assistance from places other than here.”

Zachary Oren Smith

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IPR News

Officials say five people remain unaccounted for, including two individuals who may be within the rubble of an apartment building in Davenport that partially collapsed on Sunday.

At a news conference held Tuesday, Mayor Mike Matson confirmed the numbers. The city faces criticism for announcing plans to demolish the building before ensuring no one else is inside.

Protests erupted outside the apartment after a woman was rescued Monday night, hours after the city ordered the demolition to begin as early as Tuesday.

Fire Marshal James Morris warned that the building is unstable and its condition "continues to worsen as time progresses."

About 100 people gathered in downtown Davenport Tuesday morning to tell the city not to move ahead with plans to demolish a partially-collapsed apartment building.

Protesters say at least two people are missing and might still be alive in the wreckage.

A rack of clothes was exposed by the collapse. Davenport resident Mike Collier says they belong to Brandon Colvin, who has been missing since the collapse. Collier says he distrusts the city’s search effort.

“Yesterday, they found a woman, they said they had searched through all the building and no one was in there. But yesterday they found a woman. It's evident that they don’t really know if anyone is still in the building.”

The building belongs to Andrew Wold, who owns a number of properties downtown.