Architect tells jury what he saw before collapse
The architect monitoring demolition of a Center City building that collapsed and crushed an adjacent Salvation Army thrift store told a Philadelphia jury Friday that he visited the site the day before and considered it "imminently dangerous."
The architect monitoring demolition of a Center City building that collapsed and crushed an adjacent Salvation Army thrift store told a Philadelphia jury Friday that he visited the site the day before and considered it "imminently dangerous."
Plato A. Marinakos Jr. said he went to see the remains of a Hoagie City building at 2136-38 Market Street around 5 p.m. on June 4, 2013, and spotted remnants of an unsupported four-story brick party wall towering over the one-story thrift store at 22d and Market.
Despite his dire assessment, Marinakos said he did not contact his boss - property owner Richard Basciano and STB Properties - city authorities or the Salvation Army.
Instead, Marinakos testified, he immediately called Griffin Campbell, the demolition contractor he hired, and said the wall "had to be dealt with immediately."
Campbell promised he would, said Marinakos.
At 10:41 a.m. on June 5, as an excavator pulled at another part of the Hoagie City building, the wall toppled and flattened the thrift store, killing six and injuring 13.
Testifying under a grant of immunity from prosecution, Marinakos is the prosecution's key witness in the murder trial of Campbell, 51, of Hunting Park.
Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Selber and Edward Cameron allege that Campbell - charged with six counts of third-degree murder, 12 counts of reckless endangerment, and one of aggravated assault - should be found guilty because he caused the collapse.
Campbell allegedly tried to boost the salvage value of building materials by removing 123-year-old wood beams and joists from the interior, leaving three stories of brick wall unbraced and likely to topple.
But in questioning Marinakos on Friday, defense lawyer William D. Hobson argued that a certified, licensed architect should have immediately alerted authorities to the "imminent danger."
Marinakos disagreed, telling Hobson "you don't understand how the construction industry works."
Marinakos said his contract with Basciano made him responsible for monitoring demolition progress and recommending payments to Campbell.
Under Campbell's contract, Marinakos said, Campbell alone was responsible for how he demolished the building and protecting public safety.
"But why didn't you simply pick up the phone? Why didn't you call the city and say 'We've got this imminently dangerous condition, it could collapse'?" asked Hobson.
"At the time, I believed Griffin," Marinakos said. "Griffin told me he would take down the wall."
Hobson asked why Marinakos thought a small contractor such as Campbell, who was already three months behind on the project, could take down a three-story wall by morning.
"Griffin lied to me," Marinakos said.
Hobson has argued that Marinakos should also have been criminally charged. An architect, said Hobson, should have not allowed the Salvation Army to open as long as the unstable wall towered above.
Marinakos said that when Campbell called him the next morning to say the building had collapsed, he was stunned: he thought it had already been taken down.
When he arrived at 22d and Market later that morning, he said, the sight "will haunt me the rest of my life."
Some trial spectators were skeptical. Robert J. Mongeluzzi, a lawyer representing victims in a consolidated civil lawsuit against Basciano, Marinakos, the Salvation Army and 15 other people or entities, said Marinakos' deposition in the civil case shows he knew there was no way for Campbell to safely take down the wall before the next day.
Mongeluzzi said Marinakos' own photos from June 4, 2013 show debris on the wall's eastern side had collapsed into the sub-basement, making it impossible to erect scaffolding without clearing and preparing the site.
Three stories of scaffolding could not be erected without being bolted into the unsupported wall, Mongeluzzi said, and that would have required an engineering plan and city approval.
The trial resumes Monday with Marinakos beginning a third day on the witness stand.
Only Campbell and the excavator operator he hired, Sean Benschop, 44, of North Philadelphia, were criminally charged.
Marinakos was offered a grant of immunity and testified before the grand jury that recommended charges against Campbell and Benschop.
Benschop pleaded guilty on July 21 to six counts of involuntary manslaughter, 12 counts of reckless endangerment, one count of aggravated assault and related charges in a deal with prosecutors for a prison term of 10 to 20 years.
Campbell has maintained his innocence and rejected the same deal Benschop took - despite the possibility of life in prison without parole if the jury finds him guilty of more than one count of third-degree murder.
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