Look out belowwwwwww!
The historic hall of the state House of Representatives is closed to the public today, blocked off with yellow caution tape after an overnight incident involving apparent metal fatigue and a 30-inch, cylindrical light fixture that fell 40 feet, crashing into a brass handrail toward the back of the room.
Eric Connery, facilities administrator for the Joint Office of Legislative Management, which runs the Capitol complex, said the plunge occurred as custodians were changing a burned-out TV light bulb in the fixture along the back-center of the chamber. Workers were in the attic at the time and the fixture was crushed like an old VW hitting a brick wall, although the handrail is just a little dinged. “It’s quite amazing,” Connery said a few minutes ago. “I would have expected the handrail to be more damaged, but it’s only slightly out of whack.”
Tonight, though, workers will be checking the other half dozen or so fixtures, put up about 30 years ago to better light the room for TV video, to make sure that gravity doesn’t beckon them down at an inopportune moment, like when there’s finally a debate on a budget deal. Connery said the company that manufactured the fixtures has gone out of business, but the shop drawings of the fixtures will be sent to the Florida-based firm that took over the previous company, to see what they’ll cost to replace.
You thought the House was a blockhead zone, but now, for the time being, it’s a hard-hat area.