Panels fall from downtown hotel
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Small chunk of John Marshall Hotel falls in downtown...
Fifth Street between Grace and Franklin streets in downtown Richmond closed Tuesday after a small chunk of the John Marshall Hotel fell to the sidewalk.The 79-year-old Hotel John Marshall is starting to crumble.
Several limestone panels from the landmark building's facade broke loose yesterday, falling several stories to the lower-floor roof of the hotel's main entrance and the sidewalk below.
No one was hurt, but the falling debris has raised concerns about the building's external integrity. The 15-story hotel opened in 1929.
The city has ordered the building's owners to hire an engineer to assess the damaged area within 24 hours, and complete a thorough survey of the entire facade within 30 days, said Art Dahlberg, Richmond's building commissioner.
The inspection process is to ensure the exterior panels are "all tight -- or define what repairs need to be done," Dahlberg said as he stood across the street from the vacant hotel yesterday.
Richmond authorities received a 911 call at 9:19 a.m. that a "boulder" had fallen from the hotel's upper floors.
As it turned out, two 4-by-4-foot limestone panels had fallen from the side of the building, landing mostly on the roof of the hotel's Fifth Street entrance, Dahlberg said. However, a small section of one panel smashed onto the sidewalk.
A third panel that was "tilting out" was pried loose and allowed to fall, so not to pose a danger to pedestrians or cars, Dahlberg said.
The panels are fastened with mortar to a brick underlay, and water apparently seeped into the panels' seams over time, causing them to break away, Dahlberg said.
"Water gets behind that panel, it freezes, it thaws, it breaks the mortar and it causes the panel to drop," he said.
Dahlberg said the hotel was last inspected by the city about 45 days ago, and no problems were found.
"We do that throughout the downtown area, specifically looking for these kinds of issues," he said.
Until the initial engineering report is completed, the lane of traffic on Fifth Street closest to the hotel will remain closed between Grace and Franklin streets, Dahlberg said.
Efforts to revive the building as an upscale residential and retail spot have been percolating for years, with little progress.
Dominion Realty Partners Inc. joined the redevelopment effort several months ago, with a plan to convert the former hotel into 232 upscale apartments and 37,000 square feet of retail space.
A sign outside the building announces a summer 2010 opening for the "Residences at the John Marshall."
Michael Campbell, a principal with Dominion Realty, was on holiday yesterday and couldn't be reached for comment about how yesterday's incident might affect the redevelopment effort.
Campbell said in September that Dominion Realty had joined efforts by developer John C. Camper, owner of Hampton Roads-based Virginia Atlantic Development Inc., to revitalize the building. In mid-2004, Camper announced plans to convert the hotel in upscale apartments, but financing difficulties scuttled the plans.
"They have a good scheme of what they want to do to bring this building back to life," Dahlberg said. "I hope that . . . they're going to be moving forward on that shortly."
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or
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Reader Reactions
DickTracy, your source is wrong. There are no asbestos issues. Larry, there is no knuckle dragging. You show your ignorance by assuming you know what goes on day to day. Considering the current banking environment and economic situation with the country, I would think you might give those working hard to move the project forward a break in your comments. It is obvious you two just can’t stand not knowing the real deal. Keep speculating and keep looking like the fools you are.
Thanks larry but not so fast.
the Jefferson underwent several phases of restoration and financial coordination over a 20 year period.
I recall talking to people way back in the early 80s that were restoring the ceiling—and then in the 90s
the big deal began…and it did drag on.
A source told me that the Jn Marshall has an asbestos issue and nothing can be done until it is resolved (that
may not be but that was the impression).
Typically stone or precast panels have ties that connect to the load bearing girders or masonry—either there
were no ties or the infrastructure (like highway bridges)
is beginning to either rust out—or the grout is failing.
If you have one big slice fall off—it doesn’t bode well
for others. If the owners had steam cleaned and re-sealed
the masonry it would have helped. And if you have a
freeze-thaw issue with unheated rooms inside you may exaggerate
the problem. They should have gone ahead and rented the
rooms to MCV students, etc—, sealed the exterior and repaired
one room at a time—Now they have a much bigger issue.
John Camper wasn’t the first John Marshall purchaser in recent years to come in & announce plans for renovations. Before him it was Gilbert Granger. Now we have Dominion Properties.
Does anyone else remember the time that the Hotel Jefferson was renovated? I do. Before that, it had declined to being a flop house for winos. Anyway, the difference is that the Jefferson was renovated in one shot—by one person. No knuckle-dragging, no excuses.
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