Facade of stadium wall collapses a second time

Intermountain Catholic

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The interlocking brick facade outside the McCarthey Stadium at Judge Memorial Catholic High School collapsed early Jan. 6. After observing the situation, the architect, engineers, and Hogan Construction believe the field has not been structurally compromised. The area has been fenced off until it can be determined it is a safe area. IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — The wall of the McCarthey Stadium on 700 South just off 1000 East at Judge Memorial Catholic High School began to collapse early in the morning Jan. 6.

"This is the second time the interlocking pieces on that wall have collapsed," said Rick Bartman, Judge Memorial principal. "That wall is a brick facade. It does not have anything to do with the structural integrity of keeping the stadium up. But the problem is, it is the facade that basically puts the cap on the outside of the stadium."

Bartman said yesterday morning, at some point, a number of those interlocking blocks fell down and the dirt behind the interlocking bricks collapsed with them. The actual structural integrity of the stadium is held in place with an interlocking system of rubberized geogrids.

"I have been reassured by the owner of Hogan Construction, who built the stadium, that the structural integrity of the stadium has not been compromised," said Bartman. "I have met with the architect, and I am waiting to meet with the owner and the engineer of the lock and mud company who actually installed those interlocking blocks to see how we are going to repair the wall."

Bartman said right now it would appear they had a similar failure on 1000 East in October, and it would appear that one of the possible fixes is to dismantle and rebuild the entire outside structure, but they will come to a consensus on that later.

"Right now the area is blocked off restricting access to everybody," said Bartman. "I have asked the staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary and Middle Schools, as well as all of the students and staff here at Judge Memorial to stay off the field as a precaution indefinitely until we know the area is safe."

After meeting with Hogan Construction, who is the general contractor, geotechnical engineers, the architect, other engineers, and subcontractors who have been involved, Michael Lee, director of Diocesan Pastoral Operations, said Jan. 7, "When the brick veneer facade collapsed, there was a minimal failure of the soil, so we are taking an over abundance of caution.

"We are taking down the scoreboard and we are going to dismantle it," said Lee. "We are going to put up a chain link fence in the corner on the field. The fence will run diagonally from the fence on 1000 East to the fence on 700 South.

"Preliminarily we have been told the field has not been compromised because there has been some concern the field will fall down," said Lee. "Mike Hogan and Dwight Packard at Hogan Construction have been very responsive in this process.

"We are still looking at how we are going to repair the wall to insure the integrity of the entire structure to make sure everything is sound for the future," said Lee. "The engineers are going to come up with a design for the repair, which will also look at making sure the rest of the wall structure is sound. We want to get the repairs done as quickly as possible because our need is immediate, but in the best way possible."