Science Center Roof Collapses Under Snow

As Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn swam for shore in "The African Queen" last Friday night in Science Center B, moviegoers were told to exit only through the Yard doors and to watch out for broken glass.

Large panes of glass from the roof of the northeast wing of the Science Center had collapsed under the weight of the snow piled on them, and fallen about 25 feet to the floor below.

A 20-foot-long area of a corridor was covered with shattered glass and snow, and police on duty had cordoned off the area and the wing facing it in preparation for possible further damage.

University officials contacted yesterday could not estimate the cost of the damage because they are not sure whether the roof will be replaced with glass or a stronger, more expensive material.

Lewis A. Law, technical director of the Science Center, said Friday that this kind of damage had happened last Christmas vacation in the Science Center cafeteria, and in the northeast wing in 1975. The cafeteria roof was replaced this November with polycarbonite, which passed safety tests that the glass failed.

Law said that at the time the cafeteria roof was replaced, he requested that the northeast and northwest wings also be done.

However, Science Center architect Sert Jackson, various Buildings and Grounds officials and Francis A. Lawton, assistant dean of the Faculty for facilities, decided that erecting a snow fence above those wings would provide adequate protection.

Lawton said yesterday he will do everything he can to prevent the same thing happening again, and called the roofs "a critical safety hazard." He said he could not estimate the cost of replacing the roofing with polycarbonite, but said the cafeteria had cost close to $500.

No one was injured in the crash, and the broken panes were boarded up Friday night. Law said Friday "the snow fence will never be adequate with the wind conditions around that area of the building."

Lawton said yesterday that a lot of people will be involved in the decision on how to prevent a restaging of the accident, and added. "Somebody had damn well better go back and do some homework.