“Breaking” News!—A Real Pane
By: Brad Snyder
At approximately 12:35pm today, part of a window between the 10th and
11th floors on the east side of Corboy Law Center crashed to the sidewalk below. The pane of glass landed along Wabash Ave., just in front of the Chick-Fil-A outdoor seating.
1L Jack Sanker, returning to the Law Center from Jimmy John’s [Editor: Good lunch choice, Jack], narrowly missed being struck by the falling glass. Sanker stated that he and a friend were only about two seconds from walking beneath the window when the glass crashed down in front of them, shattering and pelting 
Sanker with bits of glass. An off-duty police officer encouraged Sanker to move away from the window since glass still remaining in the window frame might fall.
Thankfully, no one was injured by the falling glass, partly due to today’s rainy weather. The glass hit the sidewalk just in front Chick-Fil-A’s outdoor seating. Had it been a nicer day, the seating area would likely have been full of people eating.
The chunk of window pane came from a window in the 10th floor ceremonial courtroom. A Loyola staff member familiar with the situation hypothesized that something had blown off the roof of a nearby building and struck the window, breaking the outer pane of glass. The inner pane of glass remained uncompromised.
Replacing the window is proving a significant challenge. The window doesn’t actually look into the court room, as it is covered by the balcony that wraps around the front of the courtroom. Moreover, unless repair crews break through the inner pane of glass, the repair will have to be completed by workers descending from the roof of the building.
In addition to the broken Ceremonial Courtroom window, the outer pane of a window in Kasbeer Hall was cracked at some point earlier in the day. The glass did not break, and the window is much more accessible than the window in the Ceremonial Courtroom.
Until the Courtroom window is repaired, Wabash Avenue will remain closed between Pearson St. and Chicago Ave. For more photos, visit Blackacre’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/loyolablackacre.
Update, 10/20/2011 at 1:30pm: Wabash Ave. remains completely closed between Pearson St. and Chicago Ave. You’re going to be taking the long way around to get to the Starbucks at Chicago and Wabash. Then again, you could always go to any other street corner in the surrounding blocks for your Starbucks fix. No crews were working on the window today. A Loyola Staff member stated that the repairs should take place Friday.
