Part of a Marine Sea Stallion helicopter rests just inches from offices at Okinawa International University in Ginowan after it crashed Aug. 13. (Courtesy of Okinawa International University)
Part of a Marine Sea Stallion helicopter rests just inches from offices at Okinawa International University in Ginowan after it crashed Aug. 13. (Courtesy of Okinawa International University)
The southern end of the university’s administration building was charred and bore deep scars from the slashing strokes of blades of a Marine helicopter that clipped the building Aug. 13. The university’s board has decided to tear down and reconstruct the building, but part of the old building’s scarred wall will be moved elsewhere on the campus as a symbol of protest against the U.S. military. (Courtesy of Okinawa International University)
GINOWAN, Okinawa — Okinawa International University will rebuild an administration building damaged by a Marine helicopter that crashed there in August.
The school’s board of directors voted Wednesday to raze the damaged building and construct a new one, upsetting some professors and students who wanted to preserve it as a reminder of the hazards they feel are posed by Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
The military base abuts the university. On Aug. 13, a Marine CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter spun out of control and crashed on the campus, the rotor blades cutting into the building’s southern wall as it fell.
The aircraft burst into flames when it hit the ground, further damaging the building. The helicopter’s three-man crew survived the accident. No civilian casualties were reported.
Part of the building’s scarred wall, blackened by the fire, will be moved elsewhere on the campus as a symbol of protest against the U.S. military, the board decided.
The move to rebuild on the crash site was made despite a petition with 10,000 signatures distributed by students who wanted the site preserved.
University President Tomoaki Toguchi said the board “decided to put priority on restoring the functions of the university.”
He said the board of directors rejected the option of preserving the building “as a symbol of the violation of the university’s autonomy by the U.S. military,” but it also rejected demolishing the building and not preserving the damaged wall.
“The university believes that it is necessary to preserve the wall as a reminder for generations to come of the outrageous and unreasonable event that occurred on our campus,” Toguchi said, according to a university spokesman.
Spokesman Kentaro Oshiro said negotiations with the Japanese government for compensation and construction of the new building will be lengthy, with construction not starting “until, at the earliest, next September and perhaps not until March of next year.”
