The project to demolish an abandoned building next to a Salvation Army shop in Center City, Philadelphia, had problems from day one, and those problems continued to accumulate until it all literally all “came crashing down,” an attorney representing numerous plaintiffs and decedents told jurors and a crowded courtroom Monday.
During opening statements of the civil trial over the 2013 Salvation Army building collapse, attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who is representing several plaintiffs in the case, outlined for the jury what he said were levels of incompetent oversight that began with the project developer and ended with the inexperienced and unqualified contractor who tore down unsupported brick walls adjacent to the Salvation Army building.
