Woman says she warned Anne Arundel County about Empire Towers structural concerns in 2021
A woman says she reported structural concerns about the Empire Towers office building in Glen Burnie to Anne Arundel County officials in 2021 — nearly five years before the building was evacuated over safety concerns.
A complaint that appears to have been filed on July 8, 2021, through the county's SeeClickFix, or 311, online reporting system described cracking and chipping concrete pillars in the building's underground parking garage.
The woman said she submitted photos and requested that the county inspect the property.
"It was right after the collapse in Florida because a lot of what they were saying, I was also seeing within Empire Towers," the woman told WJZ. "So I did report it to Anne Arundel County, and I did send them pictures."
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she never received a response from the county or was contacted for additional information.
"They never did anything," she said. "I never heard anything. They never requested more information from me. It just sat."
Empire Towers deemed unsafe due to structural issues
Empire Towers was evacuated on July 9 after officials determined the building was structurally unsafe.
Anne Arundel County has said the safety concerns stemmed from unpermitted construction work in the building's underground parking garage.
WJZ asked Anne Arundel County how many complaints it had received about the building and what, if any, action had been taken to investigate them.
In a statement, a county spokesperson said, "The Department of Inspections & Permits is looking into this complaint filed in the County's online 311 complaint system and how it was processed after filing."
Woman says county ignored warning signs
The woman said she believes county officials should have acted sooner.
"It's very concerning," she said. "These are people who are supposed to help when you have problems like this, and the fact that they just brush it under the rug, it doesn't feel good."
She also said she does not believe her complaint was the only warning county officials received about the building's condition.
"They knew the condition of the building," she said. "It never should have been allowed to get that far."
Empire Towers remains unoccupied, and a safety perimeter remains in place around the property.
