Construction workers injured downtown

Eight construction workers were injured yesterday when scaffolding collapsed at the site of the new Regional Performing Arts Center at Broad and Spruce streets. The workers were building a concrete ramp for the facility's new underground parking garage when the scaffolding supporting them collapsed at about 8:30 a.m., according to RPAC Coordinator of Events and Special Programs Stephanie Lim. "As they were pouring the concrete, the scaffolding just gave way," Lim said. The workers were using 40 tons of concrete to pour a 10-inch slab of concrete for a ramp in the parking garage, Lim added. The eight injured men were sent to three area hospitals after the workers and chunks of concrete fell 20 to 30 feet. Philadelphia Fire Chief Henry Dolberry said several of the workers had to be lifted from under the concrete with a crane. "We had workers from the construction site down inside the collapsed area," Dolberry said. "When we arrived on the scene, some workers were covered in concrete material." Three of the workers were released just a few hours after being hospitalized while the other five remained in stable condition as of early yesterday afternoon, Lim said. Hahnemann University Hospital spokeswoman Barbara Katzman said one of the four men sent to her hospital had been buried under concrete for almost an hour, resulting in eye and stomach injuries and broken bones. "I think they were incredibly lucky, though they're not out of the woods yet," she said. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital received a 39-year-old worker with a fractured arm and possible muscle injuries, spokesman Steve Benowitz said yesterday. Although one of the three workers sent to Thomas Jefferson was released yesterday, the other two were admitted, and Benowitz estimated that they would remain in the hospital for several days. "That could change, though, depending on how they are doing," he added. Construction on the center will resume tomorrow, but the Occupational Safety and Health Advisory and the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections will be investigating what caused the scaffolding to crumble and how long repairs will take. Officials speculated that faults in the scaffolding itself most likely caused the collapse. Willard Rouse, chairman of the board for RPAC, said he thought the incident occurred because "structural scaffolding failed and part of the ramp under the scaffolding collapsed." However, Lim remained optimistic that the accident will not significantly set back the project -- which has been under construction since November 1998 and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2001. "It's really too early to tell," Lim said. "Our focus is really on the five guys in the hospital. The $245 million facility will contain three performing arts spaces, classrooms and a cafe. Former Mayor Ed Rendell has heralded the new building -- which will be five stories high and topped with a glass dome -- as the future centerpiece of Center City's Avenue of the Arts area. Daily Pennsylvanian Design Editor Rod Kurtz contributed to this article.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.