What caused scaffolding to collapse at skeletal office tower in Midtown?
The scaffolding surrounding a long-stalled construction site on 14th Street collapsed Sunday morning after a light pole fell on the pedestrian safety covering.
The incident prompted speculation and questions on social media and among Midtown residents, many of whom have voiced their frustrations of the state of the skeletal office tower at 14th and Peachtree streets. Public safety officials and the project’s developer haven’t commented on what happened.
But it appears the light pole was struck by a vehicle.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter observed car parts scattered around the site of the fallen light pole on Sunday afternoon. A trail of liquid stains were visible leading to the sidewalk, and a downed pole laid partially in the turning lane on 14th Street. By 5 p.m. Sunday, most of the debris had been removed and only a lone traffic cone remained on the sidewalk Tuesday morning.
Atlanta police referred the AJC to Atlanta Fire Rescue, which said it was “not aware of any emergency responses involving our agency at the aforementioned incident.”
Douglas German, vice president of construction for D Build Inc., a project contractor, was at the scene cleaning up debris Sunday but declined to comment. Jaimie Brown Dewberry, who lists herself on LinkedIn as a creative director of D Build and is the wife of developer John Dewberry, whose company owns the tower, also declined to comment to the AJC.
The project, which began as a dramatic renovation of the aging Campanile office building into what John Dewberry calls The Midtowne, has sat empty and exposed to the elements for more than five years.
Residents have been urging city leaders to address the lack of visible progress on the tower for years. Within the past several months, more caution has been raised. Midtown resident Gary Freedman created a petition calling for transparency regarding the condition of the site, as well as immediate repair and restoration of surrounding roads and sidewalks, among other requests. As of Sunday evening, the petition had more than 3,200 signatures.
In May, the city deemed the construction site unsafe because of an unsecured construction barrier. At the time, Jaimie Brown Dewberry told the AJC the site was active and secure.
The following month, City Council members approved a measure to impose a blight tax on the office tower, a legally complex maneuver intended to prod action on the site, but that can be applied only during the annual property tax assessment cycle.