The West Side building where a porch collapsed earlier this week — killing one man and injuring two others — must be demolished because it’s not structurally sound, city officials announced Thursday.
“The Department of Buildings has determined that the building located at 3418 W. Jackson is not structurally sound and must be demolished. The department plans to work closely with the owners to determine a timeline for demolition and will continue to assist them as they recover from this tragedy,” read a statement from the Buildings Department.
The collapse occurred Tuesday, killing Anthony Wright, 53, and injuring two others.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday said the collapse happened at a family home that a brother and sister could not afford to maintain.
“What we learned is that a sister and a brother who were living in the family home had fallen on hard times and were not able to keep up the upkeep of their property,” the mayor said.
“As fate would have it, a truss at the top of the building failed. Part of the façade fell down as they were sitting outside enjoying the warm weather.”
A 68-year-old man was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital with “crush injuries.” A third man, 32, was taken to Stroger Hospital with a broken left leg and injured back, officials said.
“If you know somebody on your block that owns their home and has some challenges with keeping up the maintenance, please reach out to me or someone on my team because there are resources available. We’ve got to keep Black folks in their homes,” Lightfoot said.
On June 29, 2003, 13 young partygoers died shortly after midnight when a three-story porch pancaked to the ground at 713 W. Wrightwood Ave. in Lincoln Park.
Five annual city inspections did not flag the allegedly unpermitted, oversized porch that collapsed on that fateful night.
Five years later, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that City Hall had quietly scaled back the flurry of porch inspections it had ordered in response to the tragedy.
The task force of 39 inspectors created to scour the city for shaky porches was “folded back” into the Building Department’s Conservation Bureau to maintain the integrity of existing buildings.
