Fatal Accident at Regency Still Under Investigation
Apr 09, 2025
BAR HARBOR—On Monday afternoon, March 24, a worker constructing the Conners-Emerson School fell off a beam, which necessitated an emergency response and, according to sources, sent a worker to the hospital.
Because of weather, classes had been called off early and students were not in session during the early afternoon accident. A mixed precipitation had just begun around the time of the fall.
On that Monday afternoon, School Superintendent Michael Zboray said that he was aware of an incident and was awaiting more information from Wright-Ryan Construction, which is building the multimillion dollar school, which was approved by Bar Harbor voters in June 2023 to replace the current two school buildings.
Wright-Ryan is based in Portland, Maine. Zboray did not respond to additional requests for information. A U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson has said they are looking into finding more information about the incident.
On April 7, Zboray told the Conners Emerson School Committee that he was still unsure about the exact impact of the steel tariffs on the school’s cost.
“It’s still all uncertain. Even the folks delivering the steel,” aren’t sure Zboray said. “It’s just still uncertain what the impact will be.”
A tariff could be tacked on later and it depends on when that particular tariff on steel or other supplies coming in from other countries was official. That, too, is uncertain, he said.
However, almost all the steel is on site.
“We’re getting close,” Zboray said of getting all the steel on site for the build. He said that he asks about the tariffs on materials to build the school constantly. “It’s a question we ask at all of our meetings.”
School committee member Tyson Starling asked about the geothermal process at the new school building.
“Geothermal is happening,” Zboray said, but it will be one of the last elements to be done. The school will be run temporarily with a boiler because the geothermal equipment placement will be beneath one of the two current buildings that continue to hold classes.
“I have been impressed with the amount of focus those folks have,” Zboray said of the Wright-Ryan crew. “They are really thinking about how the work they are doing is impacting the folks and goings on here at school.”
Wright-Ryan gets right back to them whenever they have a question, Dr. Weir Webster said.
Conners Emerson Principal Dr. Heather Weir Webster said that kids will write their names on one of the last steel beams to be placed. They’ll do that with Sharpies and then watch the beam go into the building.
REGENCY ACCIDENT UPDATE
A U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson said the February 24 accident at the Regency Hotel in Bar Harbor is still under investigation. A worker had been trapped under a canopy that had collapsed.
Mark King, 64, of Boynton Beach, Florida and originally from Maine succumbed to his injuries at the site.
“OSHA is currently investigating this incident and has six months to complete its investigation. More information will be available after the investigation is complete,” a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson said.
Wright-Ryan did not respond to our query about the accident, nor did the town’s police chief and town manager. We’ll update this story if we receive a response, but we’ve been holding this story since the day of the event, waiting, and it seems unlikely.
UPDATED: Porte-Cochère Collapse at the Regency Hotel Kills Man
Feb 24
Bar Harbor School Board Chair Will Likely Not Run Again
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