In late August 2006, a crane being used by an outside window washing company fell through a ventilation grate in the ground at Marillac Terrace. The collapsed crane fell toward Marillac Hall and caused minor damage to the building.

Six months later, a part separating Marillac Hall and Marillac Terrace is still boarded up.

“It seems like they isolated the area and then forgot that the boards were still up,” said freshman Tyrrell Gailloux, “It’s an unsightly blemish on a nice campus.”

Brij Anand, vice president for facilities, explained that the University is both aware of the eyesore and is working to rectify the situation.

“We need to repair the transformer vault and the surrounding area of Marillac Terrace by reinforcing it,” Andand said. A transformer vault is a structure underground where power transformers, circuit breakers and other electrical devices are located.

Anand added that the reason why this process is taking so long is because the designs on how to repair the area are currently awaiting approval from Con Edison.

At the time of the accident, the University released a brief account of the incident.

“No students were injured in the mishap but minor damage to an academic building (Marillac Hall) caused the University to temporarily halt classes because of electrical concerns,” the release stated.

Although no students were hurt, two workers from the window washing company received minor injuries.

The workers were brought to a nearby hospital and released without serious injury according to the University.

It is assumed that the workers have since returned to work. There is no lawsuit pending against the University.

Anand said that the new design, once approved, will reinforce the area where the crane collapsed and that heavy vehicles and equipment will be restricted in that area to prevent another incident from occurring in the future.