Construction worker crushed by falling masonry

A North Sioux City man was killed in a construction accident Saturday morning at Briar Cliff University.

A statement issued by the Sioux City Police Department said the man, a construction worker, was crushed by falling masonry at a work site of an addition being built on Heelan Hall.

The accident was reported at 7:58 a.m.

Police said the man was pronounced dead at a local hospital. They did not release the man's name, citing pending notification of his family.

Security staff at Briar Cliff University directed inquiries about the incident to Klinger, which was awarded the contract on the $10.75-million addition and renovation of Heelan Hall.

A representative from Klinger reached by telephone declined to comment Saturday afternoon.

College officials said Briar Cliff will host a prayer service for the man on Monday at Chapel of Our Lady of Grace on campus.

"Briar Cliff University is deeply saddened by the death of the construction worker," Briar Cliff President Beverly J. Wharton said in the statement. "Our deepest condolences are extended to his family. Our campus community is praying for him and his family."

A time for the prayer service had not been set as of Saturday afternoon.

The man was working on an addition and renovation to Heelan Hall. The project will include science laboratories, classrooms, a four-story atrium and upgrades of existing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.

College officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 2 for the project, which is schedule to be complete in September, 2013.

Briar Cliff spokeswoman Paula Damon said the project will continue to move forward, but college officials were focused Saturday on the man who died, not the addition.

"Right now our focus is on the victim and his family," Damon said Saturday.

Source: Molly Montag, Sioux City Journal