Minneapolis Concert Hall Ceiling Collapse Sends Two to Hospital

According to news reports, debris from a 30-by-30-foot section of ceiling fell from downtown Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue around 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday, sending at least three in attendance to nearby Hennepin County Medical Center.

City building inspectors were on the scene Thursday, meeting with the owner’s structural engineer to evaluate the facility and determine the cause, city spokesman Matt Lindstrom said.

The gig was abandoned and the club was evacuated, and it has now been closed while authorities carry out an investigation.

General Manager Nathan Kranz says the damage is limited to part of an old dropped ceiling.

“Water was coming from the ceiling like rain and people were trying to stay out of it”, Courtney Anderson told CBS Minnesota. “And a couple seconds later, a little bit bigger portion of the ceiling fell down and there was water spraying everywhere”.

Denay Riser, of White Bear Lake, said there was smoke everywhere and some screaming, but she didn’t think anything of it at first because she thought it was part of the show. Three were taken to the hospital by ambulance following the collapse, and suffered non life-threatening injuries. The building was originally a Greyhound Bus depot, which opened in 1937. “I’m not sure if that will be at First Avenue or elsewhere”. Three songs from the multi-platinum album “Purple Rain” were recorded at First Avenue including the title track.

Saturday’s sold-out concert with acclaimed Los Angeles R&B singer Miguel will be moved a few blocks away to the State Theatre, club management confirmed Thursday night.

Kranz confirmed that the club had recently installed a new lighting rig above the stage, but with that being at the opposite end of the room, that does not appear to have been a factor in the collapse.

Area of the roof collapsed in a famous Minneapolis membership on Thursday throughout a show evening, delivering atleast a couple towards the clinic.

Kranz said a couple of people were taken out by ambulance. “Now that one section has come down we don’t trust any of it”, he said.