Memorial sought for Hyatt skywalk collapse

[Demonpenz]

The Skywalk Memorial Foundation asked KC park officials Tuesday for a peaceful place to honor the 114 dead, the wounded and the rescuers from the 1981 collapse of the skywalk at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

[Iron Chef]

I remember being pissed off that they interrupted The Dukes of Hazzard with coverage.

[1ChiefsDan]

I had several friends working there at the time - one was on the bridge but was not seriously injured - thank God.

[Fish]

I'll never forget my old engineering physics professor in college retelling this story, trying to emphasize the importance of the engineering field abiding by regulations and never cutting corners. He knew a few of the engineers that worked on the Hyatt skywalk, and he broke down in tears in front of the class talking about it. I always appreciated how much passion he had for the profession.

Thanks Prof Calvert.

[epitome1170]

I'll never forget my old engineering physics professor in college retelling this story, trying to emphasize the importance of the engineering field abiding by regulations and never cutting corners. He knew a few of the engineers that worked on the Hyatt skywalk, and he broke down in tears in front of the class talking about it. I always appreciated how much passion he had for the profession.

Thanks Prof Calvert.

As a structural engineer, I have heard about this so many times and from people with so many different points of view.

That said: there were corners cut, but ultimately the blame should be and is placed on the engineers of record. There were many mistakes made through the design and inspection of the construction that led to this. Now it is remembered as what NOT to do.

[Fish]

As a structural engineer, I have heard about this so many times and from people with so many different points of view.

That said: there were corners cut, but ultimately the blame should be and is placed on the engineers of record. There were many mistakes made through the design and inspection of the construction that led to this. Now it is remembered as what NOT to do.

That was essentially his point. Whether I worded it to that effect or not..

His point was to never take the profession for granted. That if you're not always on top of it, small miscalculations could lead to people losing their lives. We were a bunch of young fools hating Phys 510, wondering why this grown man was crying over something that happened years ago. Age has now benefited me with the understanding of what he meant and I'll never forget it.

[Demonpenz]

Wiki put the deaths of the OKC bombing at 168 and this loss of life at 114. It always seemed that 114 was aweful high for the amount of coverage and attention it recieves to non engineers. I heard about it in a law class, but it came back to later. It is still pretty odd to me that this happened. 100 people lost their lives but you don't hear about it too often outside the classrooms. my opinions

[Adept Havelock]

My only question is what took so long?

[Demonpenz]

What is it about this tragedy that makes it so forgetable? Maybe because there was no ONE picture to burn into memory 24 hour news networks weren't available at the time. I wonder when it comes down to it a bomb like the one in OKC is more mentally frightning than a collapse. WIki has the amount of deaths in OKC as 168. In the Great White tragedy 96 people died during a fire.
Maybe it is just because it is the oldest of the three tragedy's that it is the most forgetable. Either way I hope a memorial encourages
people to research the event. The causes and effect.

[StcChief]

My only question is what took so long?yeah..... I guess Hyatt didn't want the negative publicity

[alpha_omega]

My only question is what took so long?

Agreed...should have been done a LONG time ago!

[Deberg_1990]

What is it about this tragedy that makes it so forgetable? Maybe because there was no ONE picture to burn into memory 24 hour news networks weren't available at the time. I wonder when it comes down to it a bomb like the one in OKC is more mentally frightning than a collapse. WIki has the amount of deaths in OKC as 168. In the Great White tragedy 96 people died during a fire.
Maybe it is just because it is the oldest of the three tragedy's that it is the most forgetable. Either way I hope a memorial encourages
people to research the event. The causes and effect.


I was only 10 when it happened but at the time i remember it being a pretty big deal with alot of national coverage.

[Inspector]

I was a telephone operator on duty at the time and I called the first ambulance to the scene. That was back when you called "0" operator. There was no 911 back then.

Never forget the panic in the voice of the caller. Within a minute or two all my coworkers were getting similar calls. What a tragedy.

[Nzoner]

Wiki put the deaths of the OKC bombing at 168 and this loss of life at 114. It always seemed that 114 was aweful high for the amount of coverage and attention it recieves to non engineers. I heard about it in a law class, but it came back to later. It is still pretty odd to me that this happened. 100 people lost their lives but you don't hear about it too often outside the classrooms. my opinions

The Rainmakers wrote a song called Rockin' At The T Dance that included the tragedy...

Take a trip with me
to Kansas City,MO
To the Hyatt House
and the big dance flo
You can still see the ghosts
but you can see the sense
Why they let the monkey go
and blamed the monkey wrench.

[plbrdude]

The Rainmakers wrote a song called Rockin' At The T Dance that included the tragedy...

Take a trip with me
to Kansas City,MO
To the Hyatt House
and the big dance flo
You can still see the ghosts
but you can see the sense
Why they let the monkey go
and blamed the monkey wrench.

that song rocks.

the Hyatt deal was pretty shocking. the sky walk thing was a great idea on paper. kinda like the 3 ton concrete blocks they tried to glue to the ceiling of a tunnel back east somewheres.

[Nzoner]

that song rocks.



I messed a line up though,it shoulda been CAN'T see the sense

[007]

I remember being pissed off that they interrupted The Dukes of Hazzard with coverage.
Missing Friday Fright Night was rather depressing.

I was too young to realize how horrible the event was.