Repairs Begin on School's Collapsed Ceiling

(Springfield, MO) -- Construction workers begin repairs on an elementary school ceiling in Springfield.  It partially collapsed Tuesday night.

A portion of Sunshine Elementary School's ceiling came down Tuesday night, but thankfully no one was injured. It looks like the culprit was some very old nails.

At 6:30 pm Tuesday night, a book fair was going on at Sunshine Elementary when the ceiling came down. One mother says she had just walked under the ceiling just minutes before it collapsed.

"I was walking from the cafeteria and just turned the corner and I was in the hallway," explains Kim Wrinkle, who's daughter is a second grader at Sunshine Elementary.

With her 11-month baby in hand, Wrinkle heard a boom and turned around.

"It was kind of like there was smoke and just all this stuff flying, then it got dark right in that area," adds Wrinkle.

About 30 feet of the ceiling is empty, it used to be covered with plaster.

"There had been kids going back and forth all night.  At that particular time, there was no one there.  So I fully believe we had angels watching over us," explains Wrinkle.

The 200 Sunshine students are now having class across the street at Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church.

"It's going to be learning as usual.  It's not going to disrupt anything, but they may have to wait a little longer to finish the book fair," adds Rene Saner, Sunshine Elementary School principal.  

It also didn't take long for an architectural firm to blame old nails, not wet weather for the collapse.

"Fairly small and smooth nails, which appear to be the original nails installed over 80 years ago. Because of their size and the way they configured so smooth, eventually the heating and cooling caused it to be worked to the point you had progressive failure," explains Tim Rosenbury, Executive Vice President of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners.

"I am not surprised at all that it had to do with construction from the time, considering those nails are from 1930," adds Wrinkle.

"We advised that the district to look at buildings that were built in the same way at the same time," adds Rosenbury.

But says this is not a reason to believe buildings with plaster are in danger.  The district hopes to have kids back at their desks by Monday.