Vigil begins new chapter in Davenport building collapse

DAVENPORT — Members of the community came together for a candlelight vigil to mark one week since the partial collapse of a Davenport apartment building.

Many of the attendees had spent hours at the scene of The Davenport apartment building since it partially collapsed May 28. On Sunday evening, they honored the known victims: Branden Colvin Sr., Ryan Hitchcock, Daniel Prien and Quanishia White-Berry.

White-Berry was located and her leg amputated to free her early May 29. Colvin's body was found Saturday. The city Monday announced the discovery of the bodies of Hitchcock and Prien.

As he led the crowd of about 80 people in prayer, Mike Collier prayed that everyone would have the “strength to seek justice” in the wake of the tragedy and that the Lord would guide everyone into making Davenport a better city for all.

After the vigil, Collier said the investigation into the collapse should include federal authorities.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “This vigil was very important to the community, but now we need to make Davenport better.”

Collier said that Davenport and the rest of the cities in the area have a lot of old buildings, many of which house low-income people. He wants to know if those buildings are safe.

City officials were quick to decide that the building needed to come down, he said. But Collier said federal authorities should inspect the building first to find out the true causes of the collapse and why they were never addressed.

Kim Schwerdtfeger said the collapse of the building “hit close to home for us.”

“We’re just here for our community, for our people because if we’re not going to be here for our people, who’s going to be,” Schwerdtfeger said. “Not our mayor. Not Andrew Wold. Not the inspectors.”

  Buy Photo

Wold owns the building through Davenport Hotel LLC.

Willie Lovelady, who was there for the vigil, said the collapse of The Davenport “will shed a big light” on the landlords of the poor.

Shellie Moore Guy said she was there supporting the families of Colvin, Prien and Hitchcock and the community.

“This movement here has been going on since Sunday when the building collapsed,” she said. “The surge of the community’s spirit and the community’s heart has been out here with the families, carrying signs, bringing food, nourishment and hydration.”

Guy said everyone’s hearing more about the problems of the building, and that the collapse never should have occurred.

“This man, this owner is representative of landlords that house low-income people who feel as if they have no other recourse, and are failed by the city when they report,” she said.

Pam Schaer was out before the vigil passing out frozen treats from Sam’s Club.

“I was here the other day and it was really hot and there were tempers flaring everywhere and people were screaming and shoving and I thought, ‘They really need something cool here,'” she said.

Schaer said all the residents of The Davenport should have been given the option to evacuate on Saturday, May 27, when it was learned the building was not safe. A 911 call was placed concerning the building on that day.

“They should have all been told, ‘We were told it’s not safe it’s up to you, you need to leave,’” Schaer said. “If I was the mayor I probably would have forced everybody out because I would have erred on the side of caution versus tragedy.

“But they didn’t even give the people a chance,” she added.

Another attendee, Kelsey King, said the vigil was just the start of the "next chapter" of the impact of the collapse.

“This whole thing is just setting the tone,” she said of the building collapse and the vigil. “This is just the start. Wednesday during the city council meeting they’re going to hear our voices.”

  Buy Photo