Steel Beams Fall From Lumen Construction Site Downtown

Updated 5:15 p.m., Oct. 10, 2019

Several steel beams dropped from a crane at The Lumen construction site on Euclid Avenue and East 17 ^th Street at Playhouse Square around 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, damaging a parking garage under construction below.

No injuries have been reported and the damages were contained within the construction site.

“During the process of constructing the building, a load of four steel beams dropped from an unknown height,” said Cleveland Fire Department Assistant Chief Patrick Mangan. “It punctured the previously constructed parking garage and landed on the ground. No people were found on the ground injured from the incident.”

Cleveland Police closed Euclid Avenue in both directions from East 14 ^th to 18 ^th streets to remove debris. By 5:15 p.m., the street was open to traffic again.

“There's no collapse of the building, it's just really a puncture, almost like a steel spike was driven through different levels of the parking garage,” Mangan said.

Mangan said his team inspected the garage, determined there was no risk of collapse and turned the scene over to Cleveland Police.

Playhouse Square officials assured theatergoers on Twitter that Thursday night's shows would go on.

Russ Fiorille was in a nearby office building,

“We were up here on the eighth floor, looking out the window,” he said “The crane had a load hanging of beams. And all of a sudden, it just let loose. And they came down, looks like 20 stories.  And they blew right through the deck of that parking garage.”

The 34-story Lumen apartment complex tower was set to open its doors in spring 2020 with 318 apartment units. The $135 million construction project is backed by the Playhouse Square Foundation.