Another worker falls

The fourth construction worker to die while building Marina City was William Jones, age 44. He was a plasterer for McGurn Brothers and had been working at Marina City for about five months. He was married and had two children.

On September 24, 1962, Jones may have suffered a dizzy spell before falling off a construction platform on the 40th floor of the east tower, landing on the State Street bridge.

McGurn Brothers, meanwhile, would soon be in a dispute with the general contractor, James McHugh Construction Company, over their attempt to cancel a plastering and lathing contract. The plastering company sued McHugh for $1 million and on January 16, 1963, filed a $299,348 lien against them.

Plastering and lathing is done to interior walls of a building. Although drywall had been around since 1952, city code prevented its use in high-rise construction because the wood studs it connected to were not adequately fireproof. Eventually, metal studs would be invented but until about 1965 all high-rise construction in Chicago used plaster walls.