A large piece of limestone being installed above a doorway fell and killed a construction worker at Swain Hall West on Indiana University’s campus Wednesday afternoon.
IU spokesman Chuck Carney confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the construction worker died.
Monroe County coroner Joani Shields said the victim was identified as 35-year-old William M. Brown Jr. of Bloomington. He worked for an independent contractor that had been hired by Indiana University to do renovations on the building. He was not an employee of IU.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday morning in Terre Haute, Shields said.
A crew working on the second floor of the building renovation project, at 727 E. Third St., called 911 at 2:52 p.m.
The crew had been using equipment to lift and place limestone above an interior doorway at the north side of the building when it fell, according to preliminary reports given to emergency responders at the scene. Construction workers had started CPR on the man, who was hit in the head and chest by the limestone, according to Sgt. Brandon Hudson of the Bloomington Fire Department. Hudson estimated the piece of limestone was 6 feet long.
Yellow crime scene tape cordoned off the stairway leading to the scene of the fatality. Members of the Indiana University Police Department and Monroe County Coroner’s Office investigated.
Finch Constructors and Pepper Construction have been working on the $36 million renovation, which includes building a new entryway, upgrading heating, cooling and other mechanical systems and cleaning and tuckpointing the exterior limestone walls.
A substantial portion of the construction was to take place over the next several weeks.
No classes or activities in the building were canceled Wednesday afternoon, Carney said.
