The architect who had managed the construction of the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was killed January 9 when her SUV plunged five stories and landed upside-down on the sidewalk after crashing through a wall in a city parking garage. Ruth Goebel, 67, had worked for four years handling construction projects for the Broward County Libraries and had an office in the main library across the street from the garage.
Police investigators could not say how fast Goebel was driving when the accident occurred. City commissioners had voted in December to add metal safety railings in the 22-year-old garage after discovering an insufficient amount of steel reinforcement embedded in the walls. The Miami Herald reported January 15 that one of the walls was so fragile that one section crumbled during a pressure cleaning in 2002.
Doris Williams, the African-American Research Library’s former development manager, said in the January 10 Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, “I can see Ruth right now clear as day parking her car and walking through with her hard hat on and the plans [under her arm]. She will be truly missed.” Broward County Library Director Robert L. Cannon said that Goebel “had so much energy, I had no idea what her age was until today. She was a good person to handle 10 million details.”
Posted January 15, 2004.