Anne Arundel County officials said Tuesday that it will take 10 days to stabilize a Glen Burnie office building evacuated last week due to a risk of collapse.
Officials said that “active and unpermitted construction work” in an underground parking garage caused structural instability at the 10-story Empire Towers office building along Maryland State Route 2 in Glen Burnie.
A contractor hired by the building’s private owners is beginning the work this week to put in structural supports and prevent it from collapsing. That work is expected to take 10 days.
The Anne Arundel County Fire Department responded to reports that the building was structurally compromised last Thursday, and safely evacuated the 100 people who were inside at the time with no injuries sustained.
County officials imposed a 150-foot safety perimeter around the building, and no one is allowed inside.
The width of the zone is 1.5 times the height of the building, one of the tallest in the county, to account for the possibility of debris moving outwards from the center in case of a collapse.
Workers and others at Empire Towers who have cars parked at the building or personal items inside will be unable to retrieve them until the perimeter is lifted.
“My law partner and I, our 30 years of files are in there. All our computers, our networking equipment. We have exculpatory evidence in there for some clients that we really need to get out. So this is a very serious situation, and there are a lot of business owners (whose) livelihoods, their lives are in this building, and it’s really shocking,” attorney David Fischer told WBAL-TV.
Karen Kamosa, whose mother works in Empire Towers, told WJZ-TV that the elder woman is shocked.
“She’s like, ’I will never park in a parking garage again, and whatever building I go in better be one floor,’” Ms. Kamosa said. “We’re chalking this up to a total loss right now. If the car comes, great; if we’re able to access the building, great. If not, we’ve got to get a new car.”
Eligible businesses inside the office building or within the 150-foot perimeter, unable to operate while the building is closed off, are able to apply for $2,500 grants, officials said.
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