On Tuesday morning at North Medford (Ore.) High School, the gymnasium was not filled with the sound of blowing whistles and bouncing balls. Instead, the sound of cracking wood and metal echoed as the roof caved in.
It happened just before 11 in the morning when school officials reported, “several beams broke under the weight of the snow.”
Over the weekend, the gymnasium had been roped off when two trusses cracked due to the hundreds of thousands of pounds of snow on the roof. School officials sought the aid of the fire department and engineers to begin removing snow from the roof.
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The gymnasium was still closed to staff and students on Tuesday, so no one was injured in the collapse. The school emergency response alarm was triggered by the collapsing roof, so the campus did go into lockdown procedures shortly after the collapse. The school was closed on Wednesday. Officials told WIVB4 that experts were assessing “the safety of the perimeter around the gym and develop contingency plans if certain areas remain inaccessible.”
WIVB4 reported, “Initial indications show that this incident was not the result of an engineering failure, according to the school district. The gym has been in use for 60 years.”
School officials believe that recent seismic upgrades to the building helped to ensure the entire gym did not collapse. The reinforced walls remain standing at this time. The school district has scheduled an assessment of the gymnasium’s structure when the area is secured.
In a statement posted online by North Medford High School, they said, “We are working to ensure all school gym activities have been relocated to alternate locations.” This week’s boys’ basketball game between North Meford and South Medford has been rescheduled for later in the month.
