SAVANNAH, Ga. — An upper-floor collapse inside Savannah’s 124-year-old federal courthouse injured three workers on Tuesday, officials said.
Everyone else inside the Tomochichi Federal Building and United States Courthouse was accounted for and not injured, Savannah Fire battalion chief Wayne Ifill said.
All three workers were taken to the hospital. The injuries were not critical, the Savannah Fire Department confirmed.
The workers were working on the third floor of the courthouse when part of that floor fell onto the second floor, Ifill said. The building will be shut down until the structural engineer arrives from South Carolina to determine when it is safe to re-enter, Ifill said.
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History of the construction at the site
The construction at the courthouse site has been a disruption for neighboring businesses in Savannah for months.
Altered traffic patterns along with lack of communication have frustrated businesses who rely on foot traffic and visitors coming through the area. The federal contract to renovate the courthouse was supposed to take a year. Now, more than a year after construction began, it’s estimated to be completed in 2024.
Since the construction began, several streets have been blocked off. Subcontractor vehicles also take up parking spaces.
The building is in the middle of a $75 million renovation scheduled for completion next year and has been essentially gutted on the inside, Ifill said.
The Tomochichi Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse opened in 1899 on Wright Square in the heart of Savannah’s downtown historic district. More than a century later, it was named for the chief of the Yamacraw people, a small band of Native Americans who lived in the region.
Contributing: The Associated Press.
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