Gilpin Court building condemned after partial ceiling collapse

A 42-year-old public housing building in the heart of Richmond's Gilpin Court was condemned yesterday after its ceiling partially collapsed.

No one was injured.

Emergency personnel responded about 2:15 p.m. Nine occupants of a building in the 1100 block of North First Street, which has two apartments, as well as a nearby unit, were told not to enter the units.

Valena Dixon of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority said new units within Gilpin Court were being prepared for the families and relocation services will be provided. Last night, two of the affected families were put up in hotels by the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the other family stayed with a relative.

All three families have said they would like to remain at Gilpin.

The bricks near the roof of 1107 N. First St. were separated by inches after the incident, which residents said startled them with a loud noise followed by shaking.

"I was on the back porch when I heard, 'boom, boom, boom.' I thought it was an earthquake or a bomb," said Rosa Wells, who has lived in the apartment for 29 years. "I said, 'Oh, my God' and ran inside. The walls were still shaking."

Wells lives with her two grandchildren, who were not home at the time.

Kellisha Cox lives next door with her five children, who were gone at the time. She was inside when she heard the noise and felt the tremor.

"There was a loud crack, and the whole building shook," she said. "I thought a transformer blew or something."

Richmond fire and emergency services responded to calls from neighbors and evacuated the building before turning the investigation over to building officials.

An engineer was unable to determine the cause of the collapse after an initial inspection. A more detailed inspection is scheduled for this morning, Dixon said.

The apartment building was constructed in 1967. Housing officials are unaware of any previous building-code violations, Dixon said.

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .