See the update at the end of this post with Servite High School's president admitting the stage extension that collapsed Saturday night was “flawed.”
ORIGINAL POST, MARCH 10, 8:36 A.M.: I won't tell you what a fellow former Catholic high school parent told me when I shared the news about a couple dozen students from all-girls Rosary High School getting injured when the stage they were stomping on at Servite High School in Anaheim collapsed–because it wouldn't be classy and we're all about the classy here at Navel Gazing.
Most sustained bruises and scrapes Saturday night but some suffered broken bones.
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Servite, the all-boys “brother” school of Rosary, has a large auditorium that the all-girls Fullerton school uses for indoor productions, including the annual “Red & Gold” challenge that has two teams competing against one another in drama, choral and dance numbers. Rosary has held the yearly rally there for decades.
An estimated 250 students were jumping up and down on the stage built in the 1980s when it is believed an extension that was add in the '90s gave way. Watch here:
The adult in the crowd reacting “Holy crap!” sums up everything perfectly.
UPDATE, MARCH 12, 5:34 P.M.: In a statement posted on the Servite High website, the all-male Catholic school's president Peter Bowen admits the stage extension (or apron) that collapsed Saturday night was “flawed.”
There were about 250 Rosary High girls on stage at the time, and 25 suffered injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones.
Bowen says an investigation with the Anaheim Fire Department and city Planning and Building Department found “a flaw in the construction of the apron covering the orchestra pit. The apron was not part of the original theater construction and was added sometime in the early 1980s.”
The kicker: “We have not found a record of an apron building permit,” according to Bowen, who adds the school will submit plans to the city for a new, re-engineered stage apron.”
“We will continue to provide assistance, support and prayers for the students, families and staff of Rosary High School,” Bowen adds in the statement. “We will keep evaluating, modernizing and upgrading our facilities to ensure the safety of our students and community.”
When it comes to payouts, wonder if the diocese is going to try to argue this apron business happened long ago, the bad builders have moved on and it's time to forgive and forget. Although their prayers are with the girls.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.