Today in Chicago History: Porch collapse in Lincoln Park kills 13, injures more than 50 young people

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13 hours ago

Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 29, according to the Tribune's archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
High temperature: 97 degrees (1954)
Low temperature: 48 degrees (1989)
Precipitation: 2.81 inches (1933)
Snowfall: Trace (1920)
1889: Annexation caused Chicago to gain 131 acres and more than 220,000 residents, making it the second-largest city in the United States. With a new total of 1.1 million residents, it ranked just behind New York in population.
Immigrants drove population growth in the Chicago area and Cook County last year, latest census figures show
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area is the third-largest and Cook County is the second-largest in the country.
1996: Soldier Field sweltered as a crowd of 69,000 men sang and shouted during the Promise Keepers' first-ever event in Chicago.
2003: During a balcony porch party at an apartment building at 713 W. Wrightwood Ave. in Lincoln Park, a third-floor porch holding partygoers gave way, caving onto the second-floor porch below and barreling down to the ground floor. Thirteen people died and more than 50 were injured at the site just steps away from DePaul University.
Although the city at first blamed overcrowding for the incident, it later charged that the porch on the Wrightwood building was bigger than code allowed and constructed improperly and without permits. Building inspectors, however, never cited those violations before the collapse.
In the aftermath of the collapse, victims' families and injured survivors filed lawsuits against the property owner, manager, porch contractor and the city, the last of which a state appellate court ruled could not be held liable. The suits were ultimately settled with the property's insurance companies for a total of $16.6 million.
The city also fined the property owner $108,000 and the porch contractor $25,000. It clarified and strengthened the building code and launched inspection sweeps. Officials created a 311 service request code for porch complaints and enacted a policy to inspect porches year-round rather than seasonally.
2006: Northwestern University coach Randy Walker died at 52 of a heart attack. He was at home in Wilmette at about 10 p.m. when he felt chest pains. He was rushed to Evanston Hospital but could not be revived.
Pat Fitzgerald was named head coach on July 7, 2006.
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