INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana State Fair was expected to halt all fair activities for a moment of remembrance and reflection at 8:46 p.m. Aug. 13, 2012, a year after the main stage collapsed, killing seven. Many fair-goers were expected to visit the plaque that fair organizers had erected near the site, listing the names of those who died.
Earlier this year, reports by Witt Associates (Washington, DC) and Thornton Tomasetti (New York) cited “ambiguity of authority” and inadequate wire and concrete anchor reinforcement as key factors in the collapse.
So far, the state of Indiana, Mid-America Sound and James Thomas Engineering have pooled together a reported $7.6 million in addition to the state’s maximum of $6 million to compensate victims, according to published reports.
Most of the claimants in the case — at least 51 of 62 — have expressed an interest in the settlement deal, which would expedite payments in place of further litigation, according to the Indiana state attorney’s office.
In a fresh reminder of hazards facing event organizers and participants, a stage coach driven by a team of six horses at the Indianapolis State Fair overturned on Aug. 12, just a day before the one-year anniversary of the staging collapse. Five were injured, including Indiana’s State Fair queen, Erika Elaine Burghardt, who was riding atop the coach at the time. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
