DAVENPORT, Iowa — City officials and the owners of a collapsed apartment building had been warned for months that the building was unstable, documents show. Tenants had complained about a lack of heat and hot water as well as about mold and water leakage from ceilings and toilets. Seven fire code violations were issued February 6. Three weeks later inspectors reported that none of the problems were corrected. Inspectors gave vacate orders to individual apartments, although a broader evacuation was never ordered. As recently as four days before the collapse, the city’s chief building official, Trishna Pradhan, had visited the building and erroneously reported it had passed an inspection. Unexplained was why Pradhan attempted to change the inspection result to “incomplete” on Tuesday — after the collapse. Pradham has since resigned. Other city officials said an evacuation was never ordered because of an independencent engineer’s assurances the week before that the building remained safe.
Earlier: Six-story Davenport apartment falls Apart; three missing
Building profile
The six-story brick building, downtown at 32 Main Street in this Mississippi River town,, was a century old. It had been acquired in 2021 by the company Davenport Hotel for $4.2 million. The company’s owner, Andrew Wold, released a statement two days after the collapse that “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants.” News reporters were unable to reach Wold or his attorney to follow up.
Legal follow-up
Assistant City Attorney Brian Heyer said the city has filed a civil infraction seeking a $300 fine against Wold for failing to maintain the structure in a safe manner. He will be required to pay for the cost of demolition, Heyer said.