High-Rise Garage Collapses In Lakewood

[Jim O'Bryan]

Also read the second message in this thread, it is an update.





Around 10am, the garage for Marine Towers West collapsed. According to video records the last car exited around 9:45am.

The construction crew working there has been accounted for, and it is believed no one else was in the garage.



There was also damage to Marine Towers East garage. Marine Towers East has been in court on and off the past 5 years with residents complaining about maintenance and shoddy building materials. It is not known if the same is true for Marine Towers West, which was built at the same time.




It was just announced they will begin to evacuate the building, they will be given temporary housing at Garfield School.


Lakewood Police talking with the building's maintenance people.



Rescue crews have responded from Rocky River, Westlake, Bay Village, Cleveland, and are waiting to come up with a plan to stabilize and then enter the structure.



“I am hopeful that no one was injured. This past summer, after the tragic incident in Florida, our building department conducted inspections of all high rises on the Gold Coast, including garages. I am eager to get to the bottom of how this could have happened, but right now our focus needs to be on confirming there was no one inside.” said Ward 4 Councilman and Council President Dan O'Malley

"I got the call from Fire Chief Tim Dunphy while in a meeting. As I headed down we made sure the Red Cross had been called, and that all my Department Heads would be coming down to help in anyway. This is terrible news anytime, but during the holidays it is heartbreaking. I plan on visiting with the residents that have been moved to Garfield, once we get some answers and plans for what is next. Let’s pray for everyone involved in this.” Mayor Meghan George

Everyone is waiting for the inspectors to deem the garage safe to enter, and then it will not be until tomorrow that the building itself might be deemed safe to reenter.

Give people space, wear a mask. A resident that tested COVID Positive was just evacuated.

Let's hope everyone is safe.

Also read the second message in this thread, it is an update.

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[Jim O'Bryan]

I am breaking this thread up, as more news and information comes in it matters.

I will also be breaking The Marine Towers West And Marine Towers East into two threads as they are somewhat different stories.

Marine Towers West is still an apartment building with singular managements and very few issues. Marine Tower East is resident owned and having issues. I am sorry I blended the issue in my first update.

Example I spoke with three residents while I was there and showed them photos from Marine Towers East garage and all said they knew of nothing like that ever at Marine Towers West. The management and owner has a rock solid reputation.


Mayor Meghan George stops back down at the scene of the collapse with coffee for the responders and an update from Fire Chief Tim Dunphy.

I had a chance to speak with the Mayor, and she told me, "Jim we are going to concentrate on what happened here, and find out why." When mentioned the the problems with the other building she pointed out, complete different buildings. Marine Towers West has its own management and has been a very good land owner." With that she went off to talk with the media.



As I mentioned I was speaking with people that lived in the building and one of the things they mentioned was early last year they had all the dirt and grass dug up on the roof, repairs made, and replanted. There were crews working the garage today as well.


You can see Engineers going through the basement of the eastern garage.


They come out of the building.


You can see the dirt and grass that was above the garage.




Residents from Marine Towers East looking down on the action.



So for a quick wrap: Around 10:02am the roof collapsed. Some residents heard a bang, some heard nothing but felt a shudder.

Police and Fire were on the scene within minutes. Residents were amazed how fast they were there. Fire and rescue crews came from all over Northern Ohio.

There was a crew working in the garage, that may or may not have been legally permitted, and they all accounted for and being questioned.

By 1:30pm all residents and people that might have been in the garage was accounted for.

The buildings were recently inspected. After the Florida June 24 collapse happened Ward 4 Councilman met with Mayor George to make sure our Gold Coast and apartment buildings were checked. They were informed inspections for this year had already begun. It is believed both buildings were inspected.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Workers enter the basement and start pulling out cars. (City Hall photo)

Mayor George will be meeting with the heads of her department tomorrow and have another statement tomorrow.

Lakewood, we really dodged a bullet with this one.

Thoughts with all the people effected.

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[Jim O'Bryan]

Update from Marine Towers West


By 9pm they had removed a lot of the collapsed part of the garages, gotten the cars out.



The crews had cleared much of it out, and now was getting to the interesting part, where some cars hadn't been totaled.










But the ones that were totaled were messed up!

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[Jim O'Bryan]

As the sun comes up over the scene of the collapse, the crews have left and all is quiet.


The trapped cars appear to peer out with the reflections of their taillights.


The rubble piled up.

Yesterday was a Christmas Miracle.

To think no one was even injured in this is amazing. 10am, two days before Christmas and the garage could have been very alive with people in it. Today I spoke with two garbage trucks guys, walking up to the Maintenance Manager of Marine Towers East, Charlie Ashcraft it started with them saying, "We're sorry we couldn't be here yesterday." to which Mr. Ashcraft said, "You didn't hear, you couldn't have gotten in." with that they walked over to the hole. One said, "Damn we normally pick up here between 9 and 11am three times a week." A miracle.

Charlie Ashcraft said he was in the lower level of the garage when it happened and was blown off his feet. The front door to the garage was also blown out. "The most amazing thing was the pressure. It built real high and emptied out in under a second. IT was like nothing I have been through." Another miracle, Charlie was here talking.

Two resident came back to the building, and told stories that were very different but similar. One heard a boom, and had to grab onto something. He was on the closest side of the building. The woman who lived on the other side heard nothing, but messed up a letter she was writing to a relative. Two more miracles.

The fact no one was hurt or killed is wonderful news.

More photos from my walk around at daybreak.
















The garage of Marine Towers East, and where the door was blown out.



Great work everyone, this is an amazing story.

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[Jim O'Bryan]

11:00am update 12.24.2021



Around 10am some inspectors arrived and entered the building.



Only to appear in the garage area about 30 minutes later.

• http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/images_full_res/4d2ae8b4ae76aef807605e2423c98bd4.jpg

Emergency Rescue

We had trucks and rescue people from all over. Trucks and names I had never seen before.



Like this one from Ohio Region 2 Collapse Search And Rescue Team

and this one...



Which was actually here to rescue the other one!



After up and running all night it needed a jump to get going this morning.

As I packed up to leave, construction companies were replacing much of the work done by emergency crews last night.

Even with one truck losing power, it is still a Christmas Miracle if you ask me.

If you ask other like Matt Kuhns, "It's a Festivus Miracle." Whatever.

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[Jim O'Bryan]

This morning Mayor Meghan George posted this from City Hall



City of Lakewood Continuing Marine Towers West Garage Collapse Response and Investigation
December 24, 2021

City of Lakewood officials provided more information today on the parking garage collapse at Marine Towers West which occurred yesterday morning.

At approximately 2:00 A.M this morning, the Lakewood Fire Department and Public Works Department with support from Ohio Region II Urban Search and Rescue Team and the Westshore Trench Collapse Rescue team, finished inspecting the debris of the collapsed parking garage and confirmed that no one was injured.

“Fortunately, no one was injured during the collapse, and our personnel has been working tirelessly to make sure everyone is safe, and secure the site, investigate what happened, and assist residents of the apartment building while a structural assessment continues,” said Mayor Meghan F. George. “We are all deeply grateful for the exceptional work of Lakewood’s first responders and the numerous other regional partners who rose to the occasion to support our efforts.”

Mayor George gathered her leadership team at City Hall this morning to continue managing response to the situation. Fire Chief Dunphy and Building Commissioner Parmelee are performing additional inspections of the site today. The City’s Human Services Department is continuing to facilitate support for Marine Towers West residents in need of assistance.

The Marine Towers West building will continue to be closed to residents and all others until a final opinion on safety of the building is provided to the City of Lakewood Building Department by a structural engineer.

An investigation into the cause of the collapse by city personnel is ongoing, and The City of Lakewood will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves.

For more information about the City of Lakewood, please visit lakewoodoh.gov.


Inspectors going through the building today.



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