Vehicle crashes through rec center wall
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville Parks & Recreation maintenance worker Sam Doolin examines damage to the east wall of the Maryville Community Center caused Monday night when a vehicle crashed into the structure, shattering mirrors in a large exercise room and narrowly missing a natural gas line.
A 32-year-old woman carrying three children in her vehicle slammed into the brick east wall of the Maryville Community Center around 6 p.m. Monday night, punching a hole through the steel girder-framed building and shattering part of a mirror running the length of a large room used for aerobics classes and other activities.
Maryville Public Safety identified the driver as Melissa Horn, who was behind the wheel of a 2010 Ford Edge when the accident occurred.
The official MPS report was pending, but center employees reported that Horn was in the center’s east-side parking lot when she apparently hit the accelerator instead of the brake.
Maryville Parks & Recreation Director Rod Auxier said Tuesday no one was injured in the mishap, which happened just as an exercise class was concluding in the damaged room.
Parks & Rec shares the Community Center with the 1st Battalion of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment of the Missouri National Guard, which uses the building as a headquarters and training location.
No one was standing near the mirrored wall at the time of impact, But Auxier said that would not have been the case just moments earlier.
Another close call involved an exterior natural gas line, which the vehicle appeared to have missed by less than 6 inches.
Auxier said it was a busy night at the center, which was hosting youth basketball in the gymnasium at the time of the accident. However, only an upstairs conference room and the downstairs east wing were evacuated. The rest of the facility remained open.
The east wing was added to the original building about six years ago, and Auxier said the older part of the structure, including the gym, was not affected.
Auxier said municipal Code Enforcement Officer Jim Wiederholt and employees of E.L. Crawford Construction, which built the addition, were called to the scene to inspect the damage.
Both Wiederholt and the Crawford staffers declared the building to be structurally sound, and the center remained open Tuesday with the exception of the aerobics classroom.
Auxier said the room would likely be back in use by Tuesday afternoon after a maintenance crew cleaned up the broken glass and performed temporary repairs.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville Parks & Recreation workers Tyler Peve, left, and Sam Doolin prepare to remove damaged mirrors from an aerobics classroom at the Maryville Community Center. The mirrors were shattered after a vehicle containing a 32-year-old driver and three children slammed into an exterior wall.
