Candlelight vigil set for anniversary of building collapse
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 marks the one-year anniversary of the seismic building collapse at 324 Main St., Davenport, which killed three people, displaced many and resulted in a flood of lawsuits regarding building owner Andrew Wold and the city.
A candlelight vigil recognizing the anniversary will be held May 28 at 7 p.m. on the sidewalk outside the now-vacant property (covered by grass), and everyone attending is asked to wear purple, event organizer Jess Noles of Davenport said Monday, May 20.
Purple represents unity, understanding and compassion, putting others before yourself, she said. The vigil is being organized by Davenport Against Corruption, Quad City Movement and Whistle Davenport.
Noles grew up in downtown Davenport until 2015, when she moved to the northwest side of town. “Justice can come in many forms and in my opinion that can be accountability to all at fault for this tragedy,” she said of the participants’ goals.
“The bittersweet of all this is the community coming together as one,” Noles said. “I have developed friendships with people I would of otherwise may have never met.”
The vigil is meant to remember the souls of the men lost because of the collapse (Ryan Hitchcock, Branden Colvin, Sr. and Daniel Prien), and all those affected by this tragedy, according to the event flyer.
At 5 p.m. May 28, 5th Ward Davenport Ald. Tim Kelly will host another event to remember those affected by the collapse, at Third Missionary Baptist Church, 222 W. 14th St., Davenport.
Musical guests will be Jerry Johnson and Voices of the Quad Cities.
The defendants in a major collapse-related suit filed May 2 in Scott County Court are Andrew Wold, Andrew Wold Investments LLC, Select Structural Engineering LLC, Bi-State Masonry, the City of Davenport, Waukee Investments I, LLC, and Parkwild Properties LC, according to court documents.
“In the days, weeks, months and even years leading up to this tragic and devastating structural collapse, alarms had been sounded concerning a specific area on the lower portion of the exterior west wall of The Davenport,” the suit says.
“…the Wold defendants either performed such a substandard inspection and/or due diligence at the time of purchase then (sic) the need for immediate corrective action was not understood or a proper inspection was performed and the dangerous condition of the west exterior wall was realized but the Wold defendants disregarded the danger and did nothing,” the insurance company alleges in the suit.
Wold also faces a jury trial Sept. 9, 2024, for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Bettendorf Police arrested Wold on Nov. 22, 2023, on a charge of OWI (operating a vehicle while intoxicated). Police say he failed field sobriety tests, smelled of alcohol and refused to take a breath test.
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