Glass and Morrison provide an update on Assembly Hall's status

After an eight-foot piece of steel plating fell from the ceiling of Assembly Hall onto seats in Section F on Tuesday afternoon, IU brought in engineers to examine the structure of the arena.

IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass and Tom Morrison, Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities, met with the media Wednesday afternoon to provide an update on Assembly Hall's status.

IU brought in two cranes Wednesday

IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass said the first crane’s wheels weren’t broad enough to absorb the weight of the crane. In order to avoid damaging Branch McCracken Court, the engineers switched to a second crane.

IU utilized its own in-house engineers as well as external engineers from Arsee Engineers in the evaluation of the structure of Assembly Hall.

“It’s (a) 135-foot crane from our friends at MacAllister Machinery,” Glass said. “They’ve been very cooperative with us. They brought it down from Indianapolis so we got it here at 12:15.”

Glass said the engineers took up the wooden floor and laid down “rubberized sub-flooring” to protect the surface of the court.

The engineers confirmed the initial speculation

Glass said there’s an “intentional design valley” in the roof of Assembly Hall.

“Snow collected in there and as snow melted, it slid in and created sort of a super load in that area,” he said. “They speculate that it was the biggest load this ceiling, the roof has borne.”

The load on the roof caused pressure that forced the metal facing to pop off Tuesday around 2:30 p.m., according to Glass.

Engineers found loose steel plates in other areas of the ceiling

Glass said IU officials and the University’s engineers believe they understand the cause of the steel plate falling. He said the engineers were able to make a complete visual and physical inspection both internally and externally.

He said the inspection revealed there were two or three other places where the steel plating was loose.

“None of which was eminent to fall,” Glass said. “I want to emphasize that there weren’t any plates that they thought were in any kind of short-term danger of popping off but there were some that were loose.”

Engineers will continue to exam the purpose of the steel plates

Glass said engineers are working to examine the purpose of the steel plates, whether they are part of Assembly Hall’s structure or merely exist for cosmetic reasons.

“We have been told that they are confident that they’ll be able to completely assess and remediate…the plating and give us a 100 percent all clear and confirmation that the plating is secure and Assembly Hall is safe,” Glass said.

IU expects to host Ohio State on March 2

Glass said the engineers are confident that they will be able to repair Assembly Hall and confirm its safety before IU is scheduled to host Ohio State on March 2.

He said IU is also confident the repairs will be done in time to hopefully reschedule the Hoosiers’ game against Iowa at Assembly Hall at a time that is mutually convenient for both teams.

Follow reporter Andy Wittry on Twitter @AndyWittry