ADRIAN — Stephen Rojas had just come back from running an errand Monday when he saw a news bulletin on his apartment door and on his neighbors’ doors telling everybody to report to the community room at 12:15 p.m.
“When everybody came down there, one of the property managers said something severe was going on... and then some guy spoke up about the cracks that apparently were a little excessive. And for our safety, they told us, we all had to leave,” Mr. Rojas said.
The 69-year-old retired truck driver was one of 160 displaced residents who were evacuated Monday after an engineering firm identified structural issues on the Riverview Terrace 12-story building’s third floor and determined further inspection of the building was needed, city officials said.
He spoke on Tuesday when he stopped by the apartment building to pick up a few possessions and take them to his mother’s place where he was staying, also in Adrian.
“I liked it here and I liked the management. I’ll see what happens,” Mr. Rojas said, adding that he had lived in the apartments for nearly two years and wasn’t blaming anyone for the situation.
Completed in 1973, Riverview Terrace is the tallest building in Adrian at about 146 feet, according to emporis.com, a website that lists the tallest buildings in cities worldwide.
Audrey Cope, who stopped by the apartment building Tuesday to pick up a pair of shoes, expressed feelings similar to those of Mr. Rojas.
Ms. Cope, a self-described disabled senior citizen, said she was hosting her granddaughters for a sleepover Monday when she learned the news.
“I’m not real happy about this, but it’s an old, old building. This is nobody’s fault,” Ms. Cope said, adding that she was temporarily staying at Carlton Lodge, also in Adrian.
The worst part of her moving experience was taking her 15-year-old dachshund/poodle mix female dog by bus from the apartment building to the hotel, Ms. Cope said.
“She was a little upset,” she said of her pet. “Her stomach was upset, because we went by bus and everything. It was a long day.”
The building inspection began after a maintenance person replacing carpet in a third-floor apartment notified officials after seeing “an unusually large crack” in the concrete floor, said Scott Beltz, the chief executive officer for Medallion Management, Inc., the property manager.
City administrator Greg Elliott said that the structural issues will take “some months” to fix and he did not expect about 160 displaced residents to return to their apartments soon.
A majority of those displaced found alternative housing with family and friends, while Medallion arranged transportation and temporary housing at hotels and motels for the remaining 60, Mr. Beltz said.
The evacuation of the College Avenue building, which is marketed toward senior citizens and people with permanent disabilities, was announced on the city’s Facebook page following a structural evaluation Monday morning.
Engineers determined Monday evening that the building is unsafe and would remain so until its structural issues have been addressed.
College Avenue is closed to vehicles between George and Church streets until further notice, as was the sidewalk in front of Riverview Terrace.
First Published July 26, 2022, 3:12 p.m.
