Bleachers collapse hurts three

SWAMPSCOTT – Three teens were hurt, including one who may have suffered a broken leg, when part of the visitors? stands collapsed at the Marblehead-Swampscott Powder Puff football game over the weekend.Swampscott Detective Tim Cassidy stated in a text message after the game that three teenage fans on the visitor?s side of Blocksidge Field were injured when a wooden board about 15 feet above the ground broke beneath them. Cassidy said one of the teens was taken to Salem Hospital with a possible broken leg. The other two, Cassidy wrote, were treated at the scene and declined to go to the hospital.Marblehead High School junior Leah Postilnik, who was at the game when the incident occurred in the fourth quarter, said the visitors? stands full of Marblehead fans were immediately evacuated.?We started cheering, ?Sue the Blue!?” said Postilnik.Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta was unable to comment on the incident, but he confirmed that there had been work done on the stands during the fall.?We took down the condemned portion of the bleachers, from the 30-yard line to the end zone on both sides,” said Cresta.Longtime turf field advocate Christian Urbano said Sunday that he and the rest of the executive members of Friends of Swampscott Athletic Fields were happy to see that Cresta had removed that part of the stands. Urbano said that, to his knowledge, what was left was structurally sound.?One of the reasons we are so adamant about putting in an artificial turf field complex was due to the aging conditions of visitors? stands, the home side stands and obviously the field itself,” said Urbano.But though the plan for a new field would include the demolition of stands on both sides and the construction of a new home grandstand, Urbano said, the group would not be using the incident to emphasize the need for new facilities.?I do not intend to use the injuries of three kids as some rallying cry or selling point for the reason to make everybody vote for this thing,” said Urbano. “There are enough sound reasons to do that; it has nothing to do with the fact that three children got hurt. I hope they?re OK, first and foremost.”Currently the fate of installing turf at Blocksidge Fields is contingent on whether Swampscott receives a grant from the state Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities program. The group should be hearing from the state program by next week and then meeting with the Finance Committee and the Capital Improvements Committee on Dec. 2 before bringing the article before Special Town Meeting.Town Administrator Thomas Younger was expected to meet with department heads Monday morning to discuss the incident. He said Sunday night he would be issuing a statement following the meeting.