By Morgan Eads | News Editor

meads@kykernel.com 

The residents of two condemned apartments are still displaced after a floor partially collapsed early Sunday morning in The Lex apartments during a party where more than 100 people were present.

There were no injuries, but there was a significant amount of damage to the apartments, located in the four-building complex on South Broadway near campus.

Apartment 3446, on the third floor just below the apartment where the floor collapsed, had cracks in its ceiling. Its residents were evacuated into the hallway after what resident Anna Simon described as a sound like a “gunshot or a bowling ball.”

“We were afraid for the safety of the people upstairs,” said Simon, a UK sophomore. Simon was asleep when the partial collapse occurred. “I thought they might come through the ceiling.”

The Lexington fire and police departments were dispatched to Building 3 of The Lex at about 2 a.m. Sunday, said police Lt. Mark Brand.

The fire department was called for the floor collapse, but the police had been called to the apartments for complaints about a loud party, said Battalion Chief Jeff Nantz.

“The apartments were not livable,” he said. The fire department discovered that beams were cracked, and then condemned the apartment, turning it over to The Lex, Nantz said.

While on scene, Drew Short of the Lexington Fire Department said the fire department cut away the drywall to assess the damage and found seven broken beams.

Though the Kernel has not confirmed the number of bedrooms in the apartment, a three-bedroom lease and a four-bedroom lease that were shared with the Kernel say that no more than 10 people can be in an apartment at one time. The Lex offers one- through four-bedroom apartments as well as two-story townhomes.

Residents of the downstairs apartment were able to go back into their rooms and grab some belongings, but the residents and partygoers of the upstairs apartment were not permitted to go back inside, Short said. This is because more weight on the floor could have caused more damage, he said.

The Lex management released the following statement Sunday afternoon:

“The Lex is aware of an isolated incident where a private social gathering resulted in damage to their unit and an adjacent apartment. Our residents are our top priority. The Lex will be working with authorities to inspect any damage and to repair the unit to like new conditions quickly. It is not expected that this incident or these damages will affect any other residents. If we learn contrary information through further inspection, The Lex will inform their residents immediately.”

Simon said she originally locked her door when she heard the sound, thinking it might be a gunshot, but when she heard her roommates leave the apartment, she followed. She went upstairs and told the people at the party that the fire department was on its way.

After the fire department arrived, Simon said the people in both apartments were evacuated. She said she did not know the residents of the apartment above hers.

The Lex provided Simon and her roommates a hotel room for the rest of the night, Simon said, but she stayed with a friend.

Other residents of The Lex have called the office to ask if they need to vacate their apartments as well. Residents had not received any formal notification of the incident as of Monday evening.