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1 Killed As Theater Collapses in Toronto

Posted on: Monday, 8 December 2003, 06:00 CST

An historic Toronto theater partly collapsed Monday and a wall hit a school next door, killing one man, trapping at least one other person and injuring more than a dozen people, authorities said.

Workers had been demolishing the Uptown Theater when it crumbled into the Yorkville English Academy. The school teaches English as a second language, mostly to adults and teenagers.

"We pronounced one dead on the scene," said an ambulance official, who did not give his name. He said the victim was an adult male but provided no other information.

He said 14 others had been taken to hospitals, including three children.

"At this time, we believe there is still one individual inside," said Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart, adding that five construction workers in the theater were among those treated for injuries.

"It's going to take an immense amount of time to get into the rubble and shore it up," Stewart said.

Police Chief Julian Fantino said "the situation is precarious at best and dangerous for the rescue operation people."

He said the busy nature of the site's downtown location made it difficult to determine exactly how many people may have been caught in the collapse.

"My daughter called me right after it happened and said the roof had collapsed," said Helen Wanger, a parent of a student who was injured.

Toronto city councilor Kyle Rae said the building's owner had visited the site Sunday and expressed "concerns over safety problems." Rae did not elaborate.

No other information was immediately available.

The Uptown Theater, which opened in 1920 as a movie theater and a live stage show venue, is considered a historic site and was the subject of an unsuccessful campaign to stop its demolition.

In May, theater owner Famous Players sold the building for $7.5 million to Piagga Ltd., a developer with plans to build a 50-storey condo tower on the site.

The Uptown was one of three theaters that Famous Players decided to shut down rather than make them wheelchair accessible in line with government orders.

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