One Week Later

The back stairwell remains closed one week after a landing collapsed last Sunday morning, September 29. (All photos in this post were shot Saturday, October 5, 2013.)

After the collapse, inspection of the building conducted by Metro codes department personnel determined the side stairwell was unsafe for use too and it is now also taped off and locked as well.

With two of this building's three stairways now unavailable for use, the front stairs will be the only point of exit and entrance for the occupants of the twenty-four apartments on the top floor of buildings A and B.  The photos below show that landing, with the entrance to building A on the left and the entrance to building B on the right by the stairs.  You can see that work has begun this week to shore up that landing.

Work has also begun at the end of the landing closest to B building, installing material that will camouflage the supports installed under it this week.

Building A has halls twice as long as building B.  While there is no access except through the front of the building, the route to that front landing and stairs is long.

The front stairs we will be using until the back and side stairs are replaced are mostly in the same condition they were when we shot video and stills of them back in June.  You can see those on our Gallery page (tab at top).

Just as point of interest, it has now been determined that the collapse of the back stairs last week occurred at the exact point we noted with video and photos of them in June too and you can also view that media on the Gallery page.  (The stair step we called attention to in our videos collapsed as someone stepped onto it, throwing the load they were carrying onto the landing, which collapsed the landing.)

What we all want is for our building to be safe as soon as possible.  We regret it took a collapsed landing and a feature done by Channel 5's Chris Conte and a codes inspection from Metro to get action, but it is what it is and this blog will monitor progress.  We're grateful, too, to Metro Councilman Tony Tenpenny for his assistance in facilitating progress here.