The city of Muscatine is maintaining its evacuation orders for 17 buildings on the north side on East and West Second Streets following a partial roof collapse earlier this month.
About six months ago, the city had to evacuate two buildings in downtown Muscatine due to structural instability. In May, the city hired a contractor to start the process of removing the compromised structures. However, a partial roof collapse is causing work to pause. Evacuations for 36 apartment units and 18 businesses in the surrounding buildings occurred a few days later. The precautionary evacuation started Friday, June 19th, a federal holiday, Juneteenth, which added to residents’ frustrations as nonprofits and city departments were closed. 28 residents were able to find temporary housing according to a public relations firm, LS2 Group, which the city hired to assist them in communicating with the public.
Last Friday, the Muscatine Police Department told residents and business owners on the north side of the 200 block of East Second Street as well as two properties on West Second Street they needed to evacuate immediately. City staff and the contractors claim the compromised structures’ foundation continues to settle.
Samantha Kaufmann was one of six residents who spoke at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. She said tenants and business owners on the block found out over social media that they were required to evacuate immediately.
Kaufmann said she was assisting residents, noting they lacked financial means, agility and transportation to move on short notice.
“I was told that I needed to refer them to the homeless shelter, wait for [the] Red Cross, or provide a tent. And, yes, a tent was the actual word. And can you imagine how insensitive that would be for me to tell those people that have lived in that building for decades?” she said.
Ann Meeker, a co-owner of Muscatine Downtown Investors, shared her frustration.
“There was no help. We're standing down there in the rain, helping people load their belongings with nowhere to go. We felt totally worthless and helpless. And that's not the way we operate,” Meeker said. “My tenants are gone. You've destroyed people's livelihoods, these small businesses.”
Her partner and co-owner of Muscatine Downtown Investors, Tom Meeker, said the city identified seven of their buildings for evacuation costing over $10,000 a month in lost rent.
“We got a $10 million debt after we put about $40 million in this town in the last 35 years. So I just want to know what's going to happen if we lost all of our renters because some of the businesses quit,” Tom Meeker said.
Following public comment, Police Chief Anthony Kies informed the Council that safety was his primary concern.
“It was never our intent to upset anybody with our communication, but we were up against the rock and a hard spot, and we're trying to navigate it the best way we can,” Kies said.
Kies said the police and city staff are working with tenants and property owners to schedule times to pick up belongings.
East Second Street, including the Sycamore Street intersection, will remain closed except for authorized people. The police department is patrolling the area to keep people out of the vacated buildings.
Council hires contractor for demolition project
Since November 2025, two compromised structures on East Second Street have been vacant after an engineer noted they were structurally unstable. The buildings formerly housed GeoJohn’s Pizza and Renew Chiropractic as well as multiple apartments.
In a May meeting, City Council unanimously approved a contract with Lansing Brothers Construction to demolish 201 East Second Street for $155,450, paid from the city’s budgeted building demolition capital project fund.
On June 13, 2026, the Muscatine Fire Department responded to a report of a possible fire at the site. While no fire was found, firefighters discovered that a foundation failure had caused a portion of the roof of 203 East 2nd Street to collapse onto the building next door. The contractors were notified and observed additional foundation settling. The expanded area of evacuated buildings share the same lot, so additional building movement concerned city staff and engineers that there could be a domino effect if there is a total collapse.
Just this week, the city created a page on its website with updates and links to relief efforts
As of publication, three buildings have been cleared, but 36 apartment units and 18 businesses remain impacted.
In a media release sent Thursday, June 25th, the city said it is deciding whether to demolish or stabilize the compromised buildings. The city hopes to have a final decision in early July.
During this week’s council meeting, Resident Jayme Hazen called on the city to do better with communication, claiming tenants and business owners have received contradictory information. For example, Hazen said police and city staff told some people to take only essentials and then the very next day police said it could be months before full access was available.
“Downtown Muscatine is the heart of this community. The people who live, work, and invest there deserve better than confusion, rumors, unanswered questions, and concerns about security of their property,” Hazen said. “A plan on the next steps and a timeline for how long these residents will be displaced is critical right now.”
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