The Scene staff
A recent storm had a direct impact on Forest Park art students on the fourth floor of G Tower.
High winds blew out windows, but the glass went outside, into the parking lot below, instead of inside.
Nude model Bert Haier, 74, was in an afternoon figure-drawing class when the storm hit Aug. 27.
“The storm came up, and you could hear the wind and the hail,” he said. “It was pretty intense. I’ve been through tornadoes before, and it actually sounded like a tornado.
“The window virtually blew out,” he said.
Workers boarded up the windows that night, a process that involved standing on the roof in the rain.
n addition to G Tower damage, Room L-041 flooded because of the storm. Workers had to remove damaged drywall.
“Some water got in there,” said John Vansaghi, Forest Park building and grounds manager. “We had to clean up all that.”
The wind at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport reached 24 miles per hour at 4:55 p.m. that day, gusting to 40 miles per hour, according to Julie Phillipson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in St. Charles.
In addition to damage at the college, University City residents reported that multiple tree limbs fell during the storm.
The G Tower windows cost $800 to board up. As of press time, the college was accepting bids from private contractors to fix the windows. They ranged from $5,330 to $8,900.