Houston Fire Department officials said one worker was injured in an incident at a historic building in downtown Houston.
HOUSTON — One person was injured in a construction incident at what appears to be a recently designated historic landmark in downtown Houston.
It happened at the Battelstein’s building on Main Street near Rusk Street.
Houston Fire Department officials said the initial call came in around 12:20 p.m. Tuesday.
HFD spokesperson Brent Taylor said the initial call was for a high-rise incident. However, once first responders arrived, a supervisor told them that people might have been trapped, so the call was updated to a rescue call.
Firefighters searched all 10 floors and found one worker who was injured in an elevator outside the building. Taylor said the worker was coming down when a piece of concrete fell from the eighth floor and landed on the elevator box.
Taylor said that the worker in the elevator was stable when he was taken to an area hospital.
METRO has temporarily suspended portions of METRORail service at Main and Rusk.
Out of an abundance of caution, service will remain halted in affected areas until crews clear the debris.
The Red Line is suspended between Downtown Transit Center and Burnett Transit Center / Casa de Amigos. The Green and Purple lines are suspended between Theater District Station and EaDo / Stadium Station.
Bus bridges have been deployed to assist impacted riders, but METRO advises passengers to allow extra travel time for their trips.
Here’s the update Taylor provided at the scene:
Witness account
A witness said she was having lunch nearby when she heard what sounded like an explosion. That’s when she said construction workers in the area started quickly moving around.
She said she saw a dented crane as well as the debris from collapsed scaffolding. She said she heard that a piece of concrete fell on the crane and then the crane fell on the scaffolding.
“It looked like the crane was dented and the scaffolding had collapsed onto the sidewalk,” Samantha Jarvis said.
Another witness said she heard two groups were working at the scene and at least one worker from one of the groups was unaccounted for. She also said she heard something about a concrete block falling and hitting the crane.
Historic landmark
In December, Houston City Council approved five buildings to be granted landmark designation.
Among them was 806 Main St., where the construction incident happened on Tuesday.
The structure was a two-story building when it was built in 1924. It grew to ten stories by 1950. It functioned as a high-end department store from 1924 to the 1980s. It represents Houston’s post-WWII architecture. It is owned by SWVP JW Houston, LLC, which plans to transform it into a hotel.