MISHAWAKA—On Sunday evening, Aug. 29, a tree fell in front of Brenneman Hall, one of the Founders dorms. The tree scraped the front of the building and landed on a student. The student is reported to be alright overall, suffering from a broken ankle and a few scrapes and bruises.
“The tree was old,” Head of Maintenance Joe Zappia said. “It did not appear to have any damage. We are now doing an assessment throughout campus. There is an arborist who will go around and look at all the trees.”
There was an assessment done years ago and quite a few trees have been taken down over the years. The problem is that many trees do not appear to be dead or in danger of falling, but the incident on Aug. 29 proves this may still sometimes be the case, so it is hard to distinguish between healthy and diseased trees. However, with an expert coming in, the problem is being taken care of. There was a significant amount of damage done to the front of Brenneman Hall, and the estimate is that there is about $20,000 to $30,000 worth of fixing up to do.