Thanks so much to Ground News for sponsoring this episode
It was 1916, two years into World War 1 and silent movies with a backing orchestra were in
especially comedies at the time the DC area already had many theaters of various types
but when Harry Crandall owner of several theaters already set out to build DC's
newest largest and most luxurious at the corner of 18th in columbia he wanted to capitalize
on the need for a venue befitting the slowly emerging White Glove Era taking root in the
now former Washington Heights district fit for all manner of theater entertainment at the time stage,
screen, concerts, speeches... in these episodes though, researching, fact-finding, getting to the truth is
by far the most crucial and time-consuming portion of their production we all have our biases myself
included but letting those biases keep me in an echo chamber only consuming the news i want to
hear isn't the way to objectively gather the facts or create a well-informed opinion which
is why Ground News is both a cause and useful tool i strongly support. These days poor research
misinformation political bias conspiracy theories they can permeate even the world of engineering
infrastructure and public safety and it's all too easy to get caught up in these tangled webs
of sensationalism and partisanship. It's becoming a major problem the world over fortunately Ground
News is working hard to untangle it Ground News is a first of its type app and website that gives
a quick and easy comparison of how each news story is being covered across political biases
it's a tool that helps you get the full story not just the feel-good headlines from one side
or the blood pressure raising spin of the other Ground News bias distribution chart is one of the
features i use most you can see which outlets are currently reporting on a story and their political
alignments the headline comparison tool allows you to easily see how phrasing and terminology
changes between news outlets in order to play on your emotions or personal biases
my favorite function of Ground News though has to be the Blind Spot Feed
the Blind Spot Feed shows you stories that are under reported from either side of party lines
the best part about Ground News it's free and there are no signups or invasive data tracking
required to use it it's a better way to stay up to date on current events worldwide and if you
realize the value of creating an informed opinion free from targeted results and shining a light
on media biases to help you stay better informed check out Ground dot News slash Brick to both download the
app or use the website no sign ups no subscription fees no one time charges Ground dot News slash Brick
Mr Crandall would bring in Reginald W Geare as the designing and lead architect with
the goal of making the venue wholly unlike anything of the kind yet built in washington
with walls of indiana limestone and pompeian art brick at a cost of 77 000 roughly 2 million today
the theater would be designed in the classic revival style for the external facade with the
auditorium featuring posh balconies box suites and multiple level tiered seating there would be
capacity for 1700 guests total approximately 1 000 seats on the main floor 500 on the balcony
and room for up to 200 amongst the elevated boxes and other first class seats the main entrance
along 18th street opening into a grand lobby of ivory pale blue and gold adorned by paws draperies
and silks it spanned the length of the building featuring a candy store for the kids as well other
amenities would include the gentleman's smoking room a lady's reception room with easy chairs
and fireplace and a grand staircase was at the rear of the lobby leading to the main auditorium
crandall's knickerbocker theater would be the epitome of opulence and entertainment the crown
jewel of washington dc's elite the main auditorium was of wedge shape like most other theaters in the
time period tapering down to the main stage the footprint of the theater following the layout of
this street corner pointing roughly north at 40 feet high relative to street level it was
planned to be comprised of mostly masonry in its structure to both expedite the building process
and fit within the meager budget structural brick would only be utilized in the south wall
the walls along columbia road and 18th street would be constructed of a hollow tile and made
up of mostly windows in order to fit seamlessly with the existing street facade windows going
completely unused though in a theater like this the northwest wall along columbia road being the
weakest as its number of windows per square foot was the highest windows are widely known to reduce
a wall's load capacity substantially with walls featuring them requiring additional reinforcement
when it came time to begin work on the roof framing the contractor c.a schneider and sons
brought on to supply the plate girders and heavy beams for the original concrete and
stone slab roof design due to ongoing war efforts causing shortages and supply delays
requested they replaced many of the heavy beams and plate girders with much lighter trust type
supports that would expedite delivery to the job site and meet completion deadlines these new
design proposals were a significant departure from the originals drawn up by the architect mr gear
however these revisions would quickly receive sign off anyway by both mr gear and the city
with no calculations reportedly being made to ensure load capacity of the new materials
or designs by any parties involved not even the steel contractors who proposed them in particular
their team lead john howard ford in addition as construction progressed more issues revealed
themselves the lead general contractor on site Frank L Wagner did grow uncomfortable
with the northwest wall's considerable potential weakness when double checking its calculations
mr wagner would convince the lead architect to allow internal reinforcement inside the hollow
tiling via a concrete belt course along the length of the wall once steel framing
for the theater was partially in place mr wagner noticed even more instability two of the theater's
primary support columns were severely lacking in lateral stiffness again mr wagner received
the architect's approval to brace these columns a and b with a steel strut between them crandall's
knickerbocker theater held its formal grand opening on saturday at 6 pm on october 13 1917.
the spirit of the times the 1920s was clear in a popular dance of the day by the summer of 1921
the theater had garnered so much popularity that the decision was made to extend the main seating
balcony 18 inches adding two to three more rows of seating the war was over after all and outings
at the theater were becoming immensely popular an additional three rows were also installed
on a bottom platform throughout all these additions though no supports would be reinforced
it was january 28 1922 and a blizzard that would prove later to be one of the largest
washington dc had ever seen even to this day had engulfed the area and overwhelmed
well just about everything with nearly two feet of snow drifts as high as 16 feet
and significant amounts of ice it was showing no signs of letting up
the city was effectively shut down resigned to existing in a winter wonderland for the time being
however that evening showing of the silent but orchestra-backed comedy get rich quick wallingford
would still proceed with roughly four to 500 patrons braving the storm to attend the inclement
weather a possibility as to why the theater was at less than half capacity that fateful evening
in an instant snow roof framing stone slabs and other debris rained down from above the collapsing
ceiling also bringing the balcony section down with it the audience and orchestra crushed and
consumed in a nightmare of snow and wood and broken steel there was no warning no sounds of
the roof about to give way just an instant torrent of deadly debris the scene caused by the collapse
was pure chaos due to several factors though the ruins would be a sight more of disorganized panic
then rescue for hours some media outlets likened it to a scene out of world war one
the snow hadn't just gathered on the roof it was still continuing to fall just as heavily as before
further accumulating now on those suffering and trapped
cries screams and painful moans filled the nighttime air as well-meaning bystanders
had descended upon the precarious and dangerous ruins in the dark by the hundreds relatives
desperate to find loved ones would-be rescuers climbing here and there in the shifting debris
while a handful of police and other rescuers were there within 10 to 15 minutes
many rescue officials were having difficulty reaching the scene due to road conditions while
the area surrounding the theater swarmed with panicked locals it wasn't until around midnight
that some 200 rescuers finally made progress in organizing the scene to begin rescue operations
by roughly 2 30 am 600 rescuers were on scene comprised of firefighters soldiers
marine corpsmen police the local navy yard stock workers and those residents who remained to help
provided blankets hot drinks and other relief work on the periphery
while rescuers battled the elements the hazards of a building prone to further
collapse and more importantly the task of actually getting trapped victims to safety
the balcony having fallen added more complexity to the already horrific rescue scene hundreds
buried between multiple twisting layers of debris inside 40-foot high walls still barely standing
created a deep pit with points of entry and exit now obscured buried or blocked designing architect
mr gear reportedly assisting in rescue efforts throughout his knowledge said to have been crucial
in the task of navigating the destroyed interior local houses churches hotels and nearby businesses
opened their doors to the infirmed as hospitals in the area were quickly overwhelmed the rescuers
meticulously hacking sawing and prying away at the mass of metal and wood houses businesses every
location nearby was checked for hacksaws axes acetylene torches and other useful hand tools
one quick thinking telephone operator at the local garfield hospital mrs dorsey bush
upon first hearing of the collapse contacted every local physician she knew of described what
had happened and where and this led to upwards of 20 doctors being on the scene immediately
providing assistance the city would call an immediate close to all theaters indefinitely
as a precaution as well in all 130 plus victims were injured with 98 or more souls lost
and the loss of life as a result of this tragedy would not end there
rescue operations carried on tirelessly with workers taking shifts into the next day and night
without the modern heavy equipment we have access to today unable to
reach all victims buried beneath very few trapped under the rubble for the
duration would be rescued as recovery efforts proceeded in the days following
throughout all this the necessary removal cutting prying and handling of debris
would unfortunately hamper investigation efforts but without such a monumental rescue operation
the death toll would have been even higher needless to say cause and responsibility were
not easily determined and many accusations were thrown about initially as a result
eventually findings bore out that indeed the facility had several major defects and corners
cut in its construction and failure was only a matter of time crucially the collapse initiated
at one of those aforementioned light trusses which was determined to be even weaker than the steel
supplier let on trust t11 which was fabricated much too shallow and seated via a lower cord
that wasn't even anchored and held together with gusset plates only a half inch thick meant it
was doomed from the start but t11 wasn't the only truss in this condition they all were
t11 just happened to be the first to give way under the weight of the snow
having roughly 30 percent less load capacity than was required trusses along the northwest
wall being seated close to the edge unanchored just sitting atop their lower cords meant the
amount of deflection from the weight of the snow resulted in these seating cords being crushed and
the truss then unseating completely from the wall in addition to this massive low due to snow though
the northwest wall had been so unstable throughout the building's life by the time of collapse it
was five inches or more out of plum or to oversimplify the wall being so weak meant
it would inevitably lean one way or the other over time in this instance pulling away slowly
over the years from the unanchored trusses which worsened their already weak seating condition
while this took place the gusset plates of these trusses being so pathetically under-engineered
meant the deflection caused by the wall's movement and subsequent translation through each truss
slowly weakened them at the joints closest to the wall over time as well even more disconcerting
was the fact that at the time according to one of the lead inspectors of mr healey
this truss type of roof is used by all other motion picture theaters of the larger size
this type is popular because it permits the elimination of columns or pillars which to a
certain extent obstruct the view of the screen it is considered highly practical and safe
amongst these issues with the northwest wall and main trusses was a plethora of other potential
contributing factors the structure's main columns were found to be improperly braced
still lacking in lateral support lateral support was missing altogether from many trusses
the concrete roof slab was found to have been too thin to meet requirements
and snow removal was also not being performed regularly if at all keep in
mind buildings like this were receiving sign off by city code inspectors as well regularly
to play devil's advocate a bit here it wasn't always due to laziness crunch culture or lack
of integrity many times throughout our history we tend to simply let it ride when it's an aspect we
don't fully understand until something gives way and society has to learn the hard way
i'm not saying it's right or just but not necessarily with malicious intent either
another prime example was the i-35 bridge collapse in minneapolis the american infrastructure problem
was that at the time of the bridge's construction the 1960s gusset plates and their importance was
still not widely understood yet nationwide leading to findings of many similar bridges having the
same exact defects but then much easier to address and correct now armed with this information
it seems probable that this movement was a slow creep rather than a rapid or violent separation
and in the same degree it seems probable that the wall was a more important factor in the movement
than the steel frame after the dust had settled and investigations completed nine individuals
would be held responsible by a coroner's jury with five of those actually indicted on manslaughter
charges the four individuals not indicted the city's building inspector the city's building
designs comp troller the general contractor and one of the steel contractors the five indicted
on manslaughter the steel contractors lead man responsible for the poor trust material and design
mr john howard ford the building's lead architect and designer mr reginald w gear the northwest
wall's cheap hollow tile contractor julian r dowman the concrete inspector mr donald wallace
along with the building's foreman regardless of these findings and indictments though
and after a stern talking to by the prosecution you guessed it they were all completely exonerated
of manslaughter charges and the architect mr gear and steel trust supplier mr ford found guilty only
of negligence not one party double-checked their own drawings let alone held the other accountable
throughout the design revision and construction phases with every team and their leaders instead
moving forward with budget and deadline has their only driving forces the intention to cut
the theater's budget only in its construction the rest of the facility remaining incredibly
luxurious the general contractor only speaking up early on because the steel framing was visibly
unstable during construction and calculations for the northwest wall so glaringly poor
many lawsuits would follow with none successful as financial liability was never legally assigned
reginald wyclef gear the designing architect broke in in a spiral of guilt and despair ever since the
collapse and with his own career in ruins in 1927 took his own life ten years later harry
m crandall the owner and visionary so personally attached to the knickerbocker theater despondent
ever since the collapse left a final note reading please don't be too hard on me not for my sake but
for those i am leaving behind me i'm despondent and miss my theater so much this note penned just
before taking his own life as well in 1937 a new theater was built in his place the following year
dubbed the ambassador theater a story in its own right the ambassador stood for 45 years
before closed in 1968 and was demolished by 69. the lot sat vacant until a bank branch was built
on the site in the late 70s the bank building now shares the site with a public gathering type area
the blizzard from that fateful day which itself was actually two to three days long
with drifts ending up as high as 16 feet still a record in dc to this day
it would be dubbed the knickerbocker storm there is no memorial or plaque
that i've been able to find after thorough research commemorating those victims lost
the mortar supporters on patreon get 100 ad free access to these videos and they help to
keep this channel going an extra special thank you goes out today to those top tier supporters
alex jenny nathan and kat thanks so much for watching everyone and take care
you