April 16, 2003 – The work of putting the Sanderilla Thomas Bungalow back together and of sorting out who's responsible for it coming apart began Wednesday morning, half a day after a truck reportedly sheared the roof line, causing the whole superstructure to collapse in a matter of seconds.
An assessment team from the Planning and Natural Resources Department was on the scene while V.I. Justice Department officials began their probe into who is to blame for the accident that occurred around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the historic structure in Rothschild Francis "Market" Square.
Myron Jackson, director of DPNR's Office of Historic Preservation, and his assistant, Wanda Mills, spent the morning going inch by inch over the fallen roof, the cast-iron columns and the crumbled vendor trays that lay beneath the wreckage.
"Failures occurred when the tractor-trailer truck bumped into the roof of the framing," Mills said. "That created an imbalance." The structure "tilted over on the side, the columns broke and the roof fell."
The pine and corrugated tin roof, which was restored in the mid-1990s, appeared to have remained intact despite having dropped about 18 feet. The restoration project included measures to improve the overall structure, Jackson said, but additional steps may be taken in the next go-round. "We don't want another situation like this to occur," he said. "So, we will take those concerns in as we factor a new design."
That there will be another restoration of the bungalow seems unquestioned. The Legislature on Wednesday approved a quickly introduced bill appropriating $250,000 from the General Fund to the Public Works Department for the effort, even though some senators suggested it would make more sense to find out about insurance and estimates first. (See "Senate OKs $250k to fix Market Square bungalow".)
And Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, who went to the site of the accident Tuesday evening, commented then: "We are going to restore it back to its original condition."
Mills said on Wednesday that a structural engineer will be contracted to do a comprehensive assessment of the damage.
Five people injured in the collapse were taken to Roy L. Schneider Hospital Tuesday evening. According to Amos Carty, the hospital's chief operating officer, all of the victims had been treated and released as of Wednesday.
According to Jackson, the accident might not have occurred if regulations concerning the movement of large trucks in the downtown area were being enforced. "The trailer had no business making a turn at this corner, and likewise this was at 5 o'clock and the law is clear about the reference to heavy equipment going through the streets of Charlotte Amalie," he said, adding that he was sure the police "will address that."
The truck involved in the accident is owned by United Brothers Trucking of Sub Base, according to Sgt. Thomas Hannah, Police Department spokesman. He identified the driver as Randolph Brewster.
Hannah said the accident investigation is continuing.
According to witnesses, the driver was headed north, away from Main Street, on the west side of the bungalow, about to pass Christ Church Methodist, when the trailer caught the edge of the roof and pulled it as the truck continued to move.
The truck didn't impact very hard on the roof, but the whole bungalow started swaying and "then it broke," one witness said. After rocking back and forth momentarily, the witness said, the superstructure "just fell down."
Attorney General Iver Stridiron said on Wednesday that he had discussed the matter with the governor in terms of what needs to be done to make the government whole for the destruction of its property and a historic site.
The V.I. Carnival Committee is expected to announce shortly where this year's Carnival Food Fair, scheduled for two weeks from now, will take place. The fair, a cultural celebration which annually attracts a throng of thousands around lunch time, has traditionally been held at Market Square, with the ceremonial aspects taking part in the bungalow itself.
Jackson said the April 30 event cannot be held at Market Square. There was discussion Wednesday of relocating it to Emancipation Garden, about six blocks away at the other end of the downtown Charlotte Amalie shopping district.
The V.I. government self-insures for both property and liability coverage, and by law liability claims are limited to $25,000 per incident, not per person. According to an insurance industry professional, the only way someone can sue the government or collect on a claim — again by law — is with the permission of the attorney general.
A resident familiar with the bungalow restoration project in the 1990s said the newly fabricated roof was placed atop the original pillars, which date from 1910.
Background on the square and the bungalow
The area commonly called "Market Square" was named Casimir Square in the early 1800s, in honor of Casimir von Scholten, a Danish official who was the father of Peter von Scholten, governor at the time of emancipation. The date of the designation is uncertain, according to an article written by Jackson in 1997 titled "Rothschild Francis Square: Cultural and Social Significance," but the name appears on an 1836 map.
An 1807 survey map indicated structures at the site of the square, Jackson wrote, with an abundance of mahogany trees that extended to what is now the Enid M. Baa Library. And there were two wells, one of which still exists between the square and the library.
Oral history accounts place construction of the bungalow prior to the transfer of the Danish West Indies to the United States in 1917. A weekly open-air farmers' market was held on the square. According to some accounts, a shed was eventually built to provide the sellers of fruits, vegetables, herbs and other wares some shade, and residents referred to this structure as the "bungalow."
Jackson noted in his article that the "market women" who did business at the square played an important role in the economic life of the islands, developing their own "systems for bartering, trade and commerce." Many of the women were "turn hands," he wrote, a reference to retailers who acquired goods from farmers or other retailers, on consignment or by purchase.
In 1946, the Fifth Municipal Council of St. Thomas and St. John named Market Square for Rothschild Francis, civil rights leader and militant publisher of the newspaper the Emancipator, who opposed the U.S. naval occupation and championed home rule for the Virgin Islands people.
In 1984, via an act passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, the bungalow was named in honor of Sanderilla Blyden Thomas, well known as "Miss Sandy." Thomas had at that point been selling fruits and other wares under the bungalow roof for more than 53 years.
Although Market Square has remained an active produce shopping area on Saturday mornings, Jackson noted in the article, "only a few market women can be found under the bungalow on a given day." However, he added, "The presence of farmers, vendors, shoppers and religious groups seeking converts makes it a living example of a fading way of life and new emerging patterns of the society."
The square has continued for nearly a century "to serve as a meeting ground for political rallies and cultural events," he wrote. "The biggest of all cultural events is the annual Carnival Food Fair."
Shaun A. Pennington, Molly Morris and Jean Etsinger contributed to this report.
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