Fall Kills Woman on Tour of Unfinished Arts Center

An 87-year-old member of the Lancaster Woman’s Club died after falling 20 feet from a staircase into an orchestra pit during a tour of the city’s unfinished Performing Arts Center, officials said Tuesday.

Viola Parr of Lancaster apparently stumbled and fell sideways from the staircase into the orchestra pit about 4:45 p.m. Monday, officials said. Susan Davis, the city’s cultural arts superintendent, was leading Parr and five other members of the club’s executive board on a tour of the $7.5-million center, which is scheduled to be completed in the spring.

Los Angeles County firefighters took Parr to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, where she died about 8:45 p.m., a hospital spokeswoman said. The cause of death was unknown, but Parr suffered internal and back injuries, officials said.

Cal/OSHA and sheriff’s detectives are conducting routine investigations at the construction site and the city is also looking into the incident, officials said.

City Manager Dennis Davenport said: “In our minds, it is a pure and simple accident. . . . We are sad that it occurred.”

Danny Cates of Cates Construction, contractor on the theater project, said city officials were conducting the tour with the knowledge of construction workers at the site. But he said he would have objected had he known the woman’s age.

“It’s unfortunate that they allowed an 87-year-old woman in heels to walk around a construction site,” he said.

Parr wore a prosthetic device on one of her legs from the knee down, Fire Capt. Steve Salhus said. But officials said it was not clear whether the device may have played a role in her fall.

There were no railings on the staircase, which leads from a landing near the stage area down into the spectator section beyond the orchestra pit, Davenport said. The staircase is about four feet wide and has a wall on one side and the pit on the other, he said.

Davenport said city officials have conducted several informal tours of the center for City Council members and prospective performers.