DAVENPORT, Iowa — More than a year after closing, the old Davenport YMCA location on West 2nd Street downtown is being torn down.
Demolition crews were working to tear down the south side of the building Thursday afternoon, April 7.
The demolition comes after YMCA leaders asked the City of Davenport in February 2022 for permission to tear the building down, according to records from the city's Design Review Board.
As part of the application process, YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley CEO Brad Martell cited safety concerns at the property, according to the demolition application.
Martell wrote, "There is an urgency to get the building torn down." He added people who are homeless had been living in the building, and police and staff were called "twice a week" to address that problem, the application reads.
The YMCA asked the city to allow for demolition, "as soon as possible for safety and liability concerns," Martell wrote in the application.
The demolition also comes about one month after a Davenport man was rescued from the building, but later died from his injuries after a fire started in the building.
The demolition application outlines plans for the area, which include removing the YMCA signs and replacing the building area with new grass.
The application plan also includes keeping the playground and fence, as well as the parking lot off of 2nd Street.
The old Davenport YMCA building closed on Dec. 11, 2020, after being used since being built in 1963. The new downtown YMCA location opened Dec. 19, 2020.