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On Saturday, workers disconnected the gas from the left side of the physical plant for safety purposes. This side of the building had shifted off its
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The gravel area was the parking lot in front of the physical plant, which makes a steep drop. Standing from the edge, contents of both the attic and basement are visible. |
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Three vehicles in the garage were crushed when the main floor of the building collapsed. Filing cabinets from Sandy Deyton’s office above are visible above the vehicles. |
-Photos by Jennifer Soucie |
Milligan’s physical plant collapsed at approximately 4:40 p.m. on Feb. 22; the cause of its collapse is still unknown.
Before beginning his shift, campus security officer Mike Waycaster was eating his dinner in the office when part of the building caved in just inches from his chair. Unharmed, Waycaster immediately exited the building and called Leonard Beattie, director of the physical plant.
“I grabbed what I needed and got out,” said Waycaster.
When the building collapsed, Beattie and his wife, Marlene, were outside their home near Buffalo Creek when they heard a loud sound.
Marlene said, “We just went down to the creek to see how high [the water] was and I said, ‘What was that?’”
Within moments, Leonard Beattie received the call on his cellular phone from Waycaster reporting the collapse.
The Elizabethton Police Department, the Elizabethton Fire Department and Atmos Energy arrived at the scene within minutes to make safety evaluations. The gas, electricity and water were shut off to prevent further damage.
In the days and hours following, the building continued to shift and crumple.
“About every 10 to 15 minutes, more falls,” said Beattie on Saturday afternoon.
Though the cause of the collapse still remains unknown, heavy rains over the weekend are suspect. The ground was already saturated from heavy rain when a large rainstorm swept through the area on Saturday morning.
“I would call this an act of nature,” said Beattie.
He said that because of area storm damage, the college is filing a claim along with four to five other area counties with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We are piggy-backing on that coverage,” he said.
A structural engineer from the insurance company will visit the site on Feb. 27 to make an assessment. A meeting between demolition crews, architects, engineers, the insurance company and the college will determine the next steps.
On Monday morning, before telecommunications lines were re-routed, phones were still ringing from the rubble. Beattie said computer workstations, telephones and fax machines were operational in temporary locations within 7 hours on Monday.
“We haven’t missed a beat on campus,” said Beattie.
He said the department is fully functional by working out of other campus buildings, and it will be two to three weeks before final decisions regarding the site are settled.
Looking at the building from Alf Taylor Road, bystanders can see the right side still standing.
If they stand between the building and faculty office center, however, they can see the block foundation is cracked and caving towards the center of the building.
Workers continue entering through the main entrance to pull filing cabinets and computers from the offices, which are mostly intact.
Most of the damage occurred on the left side of the building. The attic crawlspace on the left side of the physical plant is now at eye level from the road. Milligan’s fiberglass buffalo is visible within this crawl space.
On Monday, the gas regulator valve was removed from the immediate area of the physical plant. If the front left corner of the building had continued its collapse and fallen on this valve, it would have ripped up the gas line that lies parallel to Alf Taylor Road.
Another gas line also runs under the road, according to Beattie.
“The building itself has moved another one to one and a half feet since [Monday] night,” said junior Erik Boggs, a work-study student at the physical plant.
According to the fire report, entrance to the building is prohibited until the structural engineer verifies the structure’s safety. Certain portions of the building have already been approved for entry by engineers.
The maintenance workers are salvaging equipment they can access from approved areas of the building. Two workers are allowed to enter the main level office area at a time.
Boggs said the two campus lawnmowers were not inside the building because they were removed for repairs on Friday.
According to Boggs, 200 gallons of gasoline stored in the physical plant have been safely removed by staff. However, a 50-gallon air compressor is still inside the collapsed building.
“If nothing else falls on top of it, it won’t explode,” said Boggs.
Supplies pulled from the rubble are being moved to a temporary storage trailer behind the physical plant.
Five maintenance vehicles were parked under the structure in a garage that opens to the parking lot on the right side of the building. Two fleet vehicles have been salvaged, including a maintenance van and the snowplow. The other three vehicles were crushed as the main floor of the building collapsed.
“The building and its contents are insured. If, in fact, the entire building and its contents are a total loss, I would estimate the entire loss between $350,000 and $500,000,” said Joe Whitaker, vice president for business and finance. “The contents are insured on a basis that would mirror replacement cost.”
Insurance matters will not be resolved until a company representative visits the site and the exact cause of the collapse is determined, said Whitaker.
Beattie said that no tests of structural integrity have been completed on the building during his 17 years at Milligan College.
“You normally don’t do structural integrity tests with this type of building,” he said.
The physical plant is a steel shell building with a large concrete floor supported by cinder block walls on a slab foundation.
The area around the physical plant is marked off with police tape. Since the collapse, 24-hour security has been at the site.
“The students have been pretty good about not trying to get in,” said Joe Brown, who has worked security for Milligan for three years though contractor Murray Security.
“We hope nobody gets hurt,” said David Shouse, a fire engineer driver for the Elizabethton Fire Department.
Secretary Sandy Deyton has a temporary office in the McCown Business Cottage. Housekeeping is fully operational from the basement of Williams Hall. Plans for a new maintenance building have not yet been drafted.
“It’s going to be a blessing,” said Bruce Cakebread, a physical plant employee