Collapsing wall at a school forces evacuation

BELOIT, WI - A collapsing wall forces faculty and students inside an elementary school in Beloit to evacuate and it also forced crews to work through the night to stabilize the structure.

Shortly before three Tuesday afternoon, construction crews were working on a new addition at Robinson Elementary School in Beloit.  As they began to move dirt near the foundation of an exterior gym wall, officials say the sediment gave way and caused part of the gym wall to slip and crack.

Emergency responders from 11 different area fire departments that make up the Stateline Area Technical Rescue Team were at the scene putting up wood braces and trying to secure the wall.  They also put braces up inside the gym to prevent the wall from falling back into the school.

Beloit School Superintendent Steve McNeal says that close to 400 students and teachers were inside the building when the wall gave way.  He says a teacher who was in the gym heard the sounds and saw the cracks.  She then went to the office and called 9-1-1, as well as alerted school administrators who then evacuated the school.

Nobody was hurt during the incident.

It began to rain while crews were preparing to brace the walls, so officials used construction diggers to brace the exterior of the wall fearing it could fall down.  They diggers remain in place helping to hold up the exterior of the wall along with the wood braces attached by firefighters.  

McNeal says classes for Robinson Elementary and canceled for Wednesday.  The district plans to use an automated phone system to contact parents about whether or not classes will resume on Thursday.

McNeal also added that a majority of the schools in the Beloit School District are more than 50 years old, and that a majority of them are built on foundry sand.  A loose sediment that serves as the primary foundation for many of the schools. 

McNeal says there are other construction projects happening throughout the district, and that officials will be monitoring each situation to make sure crews don't encounter a similar problem.