Category: Hard Rock Hotel

Quinnyon Wimberly recovered from Hard Rock Hotel ruins

(Photo: The Hard Rock Hotel collapse site. | Infrogmation/CC)
Crews recovered the body of 36-year-old Quinnyon Wimberly from the 11th floor rubble of the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday, 303 days after the building partially collapsed and killed him.

The hotel, located on the corner of Canal and Rampart streets, collapsed on Oct. 12, 2019, killing Wimberly and two other construction workers, 49-year-old Anthony Magrette and 63-year-old Jose Ponce Arreola, and injuring a dozen more people.

Magrette’s remains were recovered the day after the collapse, while Wimberly’s remained trapped inside the hotel ruins for nearly 10 months until last weekend.

The final recovery will be Ponce, whose remains are trapped on the 8th floor of the hotel. Officials didn’t release a timeline on Ponce’s recovery.

Wimberly’s family gathered near the chainlink fence surrounding the site as the process of removing the remains at about 10:45 a.m., when a team slowly lowered his body to street level and was driven away.

The body was immediately taken to the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office where an autopsy will first be conducted and then escorted to Baton Rouge for a “thorough” forensic examination, according to New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who added that the investigation could take up to two months.

“It’s necessary because we want to fully document the pain and harm that was caused,” said Cantrell, who held a press conference against the backdrop of the hotel ruins one hour after the recovery effort concluded.

Visibly weeping, Cantrell reprimanded a reporter who asked why the mayor was crying, but later apologized during the press conference. When asked by another reporter if she wants to see criminal charges, Cantrell said the case is moving through the judicial process and that the city has no control.

“I want to see justice for the family as it relates to this tragedy,” Cantrell said. “Words cannot really explain or describe, not only the pain, but the closure they’ve been wanting for 10 months.”

The process of recovering the Wimberly’s remains began with an $8.4 million city-approved demolition plan between Missouri-based Kolb Grading and Marschel Wrecking and hotel developer 1031 Canal Street Development LLC.

The proposed plan will be executed in four phases and expected to be completed by October, or close to the one year anniversary of the collapse.

Demolition started in May with the three structures adjacent to the Hard Rock Hotel site, including at 1019-1025 and 1027 Canal St., following an order by New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell, who determined it was the safest way to demolish the hotel and recover the bodies.

The process eventually reached the Hard Rock building, where crews used excavators and other heavy equipment to dismantle the hotel piece-by-piece near Wimberly’s body, whose recovery was originally slated for July but was delayed due to weather conditions and technical problems, according to McConnell.

McConnell said Saturday’s recovery was conducted with precision and professionally by the recovery team, which included contractors and New Orleans fire, police and other emergency personnel.

The operation was a “significant” step toward closure for Wimberly’s family, said McConnell, who added the long wait has been particularly painful for the recovery team.

“It’s hard,” McConnell said. “I have several members of our department that have been here every day since the start. It has got to be emotional for them too.”

Hard Rock Hotel recovery efforts delayed due to equipment problems

Decomposition timeline of Hard Rock Hotel workers

New Orleans buries its dead above ground, but why did the Hard Rock Hotel become the tomb for Jose Ponce Arreola and Quinnyon Wimberly?

Oct. 12, 2019: an 18-story hotel under construction collapses, killing three, injuring more than a dozen. One body was recovered. The other two bodies were not recovered due to the instability of the collapse site. As of now, the remains have yet to be claimed by recovery workers. Here is a timeline of the decomposition of the corpses.

Oct. 12, 2019: initial deaths caused by crushing trauma. Damage to the bodies would expedite decomposition.

Oct. 15, 2019: autolysis: internal organs ruptured by excess carbon dioxide. The bodies started to consume themselves by enzymes released. Rigor mortis set in, and the skin took on a greenish hue and started to loosen. The bodies produced gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide.

Oct. 17, 2019: bloating occurred, possibly doubling the body size. In addition to skin discoloration, fluids leaked from nose, mouth, etc. At this point insects may have been present, laying eggs in open wounds of the corpses, turning into larva feeding on the decomposing flesh. In addition, rodent and scavengers would help to consume the flesh. Microorganisms and bacteria start the putrefaction process, leading to a foul odor.

Oct. 22, 2019:  active decay: all body tissues started to liquefy. Most of the body mass is being reduced at this point.

Nov. 12, 2019: within a month the corpses have been reduced to a puddle of liquid remains. Insect activity has decreased.

Present: the bodies of the workers are now mostly skeletal held together by clothing and the dried liquefied flesh.

NOFD orders demolition of Hard Rock Hotel, adjacent structures

An order to demolish the Hard Rock Hotel and several historic buildings adjacent structures was issued Tuesday by New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell.

The order comes as the June 1 start of hurricane season approaches and amid public pressure towards city officials to take immediate action to retrieve two dead bodies still trapped inside the collapsed hotel.

The hotel’s upper floors collapsed on the morning of Oct. 12, killing three construction workers Jose Ponce Arreola, Quinnyon Wimberly and Anthony Magrette.

The bodies of Arreola and Wimberly have remain trapped inside the condemned structure for more than six months as the city and 1031 Canal St., the hotel’s developers, have deferred responsibility to each other for the demolition of the building.

Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans construction crane collapses, killing at least one person

“These orders were posted under the authority of our Superintendent with my support, clearing the way for the Hard Rock site to be demolished,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “We have issued a conditional permit which gives 1031 what they need to move forward.

“I do not want to take the families of the victims through any more obstacles to get this building taken down,” she said. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is to retrieve the remains of our people.”

An independent analysis submitted by the developers confirmed the need to demolish the adjacent structures at 1022 Iberville Street and 1019, 1027 and 1027 Canal streets in order to safely level the Hard Rock Hotel, according to city spokeswoman LaTonya Norton.

Applications to demolish the adjacent structures were filed by the developers for consideration before the Central Business District Historic District Landmarks Commission on Wednesday, but the applications were withdrawn due to McConnell’s order.

HDLC staff previously recommended the commission deny the demo applcations for the buildings located at 1019-1025 and 1027 Canal streets due to their historical significance, but the emergency order declared on the Hard Rock structure allows McConnell to override the commission’s decision.

The demolition plans call for the Hard Rock to be demolished piecemeal using cranes and the bodies could be retrieved in about 30 days, according to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.

“The proximity of the nearby historic structures, narrowness of Iberville Street and distance of the collapsed building from Burgundy Street require precise positioning of demolition cranes within the footprint of the four adjacent structures if the collapsed building is to be safety demolished,” McConnell wrote in his order.

“Should a major storm strike the city during the upcoming hurricane season, the risk of further collapse of the unsafe and unstable structure would be greatly exacerbated,” McConnell said.

Read the full order:

A Vieux From Toulouse

The Vieux Carre Commission drives around the Quarter searching for a business throwing a coat of paint on their front door. They stop, take a photo of the work being performed without a permit, writes a violation, levies a fine, and demands that the person appear before them and grovel for the next permit.

A VCC inspector strikes fear into hearts of French Quarter businesses in the same way the East German Stasi police would as they rolled up to a Berlin bookstore. If a comedic version of a dystopian future was to unfold, it would be those who are in charge of preservation who would the rule the future with a historically accurate iron fist. An all powerful and omnipresent bureaucratic blue-haired lady with a clipboard, no mercy.

Art by Eric Styles.

The same City Hall houses city engineers (building inspectors). Evidently they are the more elusive of the two entities. They’re able to sign off on permits without even being in that part of the city and, at times, they’re able to perform the duty from the comfort of their very own living rooms.

An 18-story building under construction, a house of concrete cards being assembled by dozens of workers; its collapse aided by steel towers spinning over one of our busiest intersections. If the paint color of wooden shutters are so precisely and staunchly regulated, then this site must have a city official on premises daily, waiting to pounce on the most minor infraction.

“Want to pour a 100 tons of concrete? With dozens of workers on site? Sure go ahead. We won’t even pop by to say Hello.”

Two different departments, both in City Hall. If the city engineers had been even half as zealous, half as tenacious as the VCC, the Hard Rock Hotel would probably be completed by now.