LOUISVILLE, Ky. --
A city official was critically injured and two other people were in a hospital after falling about 30 feet when stairs collapsed inside a historic downtown building Tuesday.
Downtown Development Corp. Director Alan DeLisle and three others were touring the building at 801 West Main Street when the wooden staircase to the third floor crashed down to the first floor, said Louisville Fire spokesman Sgt. Salvador Melendez.
"They took a pretty good ride. They were on it, it appears, all the way down," Melendez said.
He said the staircase came detached from the point where it meets the third floor.
DeLisle, his deputy director Patti Clare and building owner Paul Bariteau were pulled by firefighters from the rubble, said Chris Poynter, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Abramson. Another woman was rescued from a third floor window, Poynter said. She was not on the stairs and was not hurt.
Clare was in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at University Hospital, said hospital spokesman David McArthur. Clare suffered internal injuries and was in surgery, Poynter said.
DeLisle was in serious condition and Bariteau was in stable condition, McArthur said.
The historic but vacant structure, known as the Fort Nelson Building, is located in a revitalized section of Main Street and is across from the popular Louisville Slugger Museum.
DeLisle had only been in the director's job for about a month, Poynter said. He had not previously been inside the four-story 19th-century building, which has been targeted for years for redevelopment, Poynter said.
DeLisle had previously worked in Durham, N.C., as head of the city's Economic and Workforce Development office.
