Woman Just Misses Becoming Statue

If nothing else, Kathy Moreland at least received a concrete explanation about how she nearly got a cement shower.

Moreland was at her desk Monday in the law library of the Tuscarawas County Courthouse, which is undergoing renovation, when she heard a creaking sound above her.

She got up from her chair and took a few steps back just as a half-ton of wet cement and much of the ceiling collapsed onto her desk.

Moreland was badly shaken, but escaped with just a few scratches.

Courthouse Deputy George Gibson said workers had removed four 4-foot-by-4-foot skylights in the first-floor ceilings, and were filling them with cement so that tile ceilings could be installed.

Construction crews had just finished filling the cavities when the steel supports beneath one gave way - right above Moreland’s desk.

Brian Linder, project superintendent for Stanley Miller Construction, later determined that holes in the steel beams had been incorrectly drilled.