2019-10-15
Tire tracks and relatively fresh overturned dirt surround a now-bright green painted manhole cover in the extended parking area in front of Pete's Palladium.
Owner Sergio Champion said the tracks weren't there before last Saturday when a local teen fell into the uncovered manhole. Actually, he said, that part of the parking lot is very rarely used – which is evident given the light growth of grass spread throughout the unpaved portion of lot between Pete's Palladium and the warehouse/office in front of it.
But there were so many people in attendance at a quinceanera celebration hosted there last Saturday (Sept. 7) that people were parking their vehicles beyond the paved parking lot.
The unused sewer manhole was surrounded by concrete that had already been breaking away.
Champion thinks the weight of traffic pushed it past the breaking point on Saturday before Plainview law enforcement and first responders were called to the location at 1801 E. Fifth St. at 11:23 p.m. in reference to the injured female who had fallen 20 feet.
According to a City of Plainview news release, she was found responsive but with back and pelvis pain. She was rescued by climbing out on a ladder with assistance from first responders and was transported to Covenant Hospital Plainview, then later to a Lubbock hospital.
City officials – and Champion, who was several feet away in the warehouse – arrived on-scene a few minutes later and immediately fixed and covered the manhole and fenced it off.
Champion, who reached out to The Herald, showed The Herald a photo of the damage showing pieces of concrete and the manhole cover laying several feet away from the hole. He believes it was shoved away from its place by a vehicle or vehicles doing donuts. Clear tire tracks still at the location on Friday afternoon could be traced around and through the spot.
A spokesperson for the City of Plainview said it's unclear why the manhole was uncovered but city staff had not been in the area prior to the fall. City workers took action by fixing and marking the manhole at the scene and the incident remains under investigation.
Champion, who said he's received several phone calls from people placing blame on him and the business, said he doesn't believe the cover was intentionally removed. Right now, he's doing what he can to review camera footage to find out how it all happened. But there were too many vehicles and people to get a clear picture of what that part of the property looked like that night, he said.
A search through the city's Code of Ordinances didn't yield requirements for whether manholes should be marked brought up just one detail – that a control manhole is required when building sewers.
Three clearly-marked poles now surround the manhole which, Champion said, were placed there after the incident.
Champion said the incident is unfortunate and he would have liked to reach out to the injured teen.
Questions and chatter about the incident, are swirling, he said, but he wanted to share the facts of the property to help people better understand.
