Construction crews were cleaning up the south end of Rice Stadium Friday after a scoreboard being lifted by a crane on Thursday fell apart, damaging seats and bleachers below.
No one was injured.David S. Layton, vice president of Layton Construction Co. Inc., said lift supports within the scoreboard apparently had deteriorated over the years. When the crane lifted the scoreboard, the welds inside the sign apparently gave way. Debris plowed down dozens of stadium seats.
Layton said workers had inspected the scoreboard before the lift. "There was no reason to suspect any deterioration," he said.
Layton safety officials had cleared the area of workers before the crane, operated by subcontractor Western Construction, attempted to lift the sign for disposal.
"There was never even the most remote chance someone could have been injured," he said.
The scoreboard was being removed in preparation for installing a new one, one of three to be placed in the renovated stadium.
Layton said the company plans to replace all of the seats in the damaged portion of the stadium, which was not scheduled for renovation.
The incident will not delay completion of the stadium project. "The stadium will be complete for the first game, which is Sept. 12," he said.
The stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Games, has been expanded to seat 46,500 people. Donors, event tickets and an $8 million user fee from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee will be used to retire the $52.5 million cost of the project.