"Lack of Monitoring, Lack of Inspection, Lack of Seeming Concern"

That is how Dr. Cyril Wecht now describes the reaction to his 2002 report on safety issues at the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center, following the death of iron worker Paul Corsi.

KDKA's Fred Honsberger had to ask our civic treasure some awfuly leading questions, but Wecht seemed glad for the help.

Fred: "You're saying it was a rush job to get this open?"

Cyril: "Yes."

Fred: "These people knew they were using the wrong stuff, but they went ahead anyway?"

Cyril: "Exactly."

Humble and lawyerly as always, Dr. Wecht was careful not to claim that the problems highlighted by his engineers in 2002 can directly correlate to the building's recent collapse.

What really steams Dr. Wecht has been the non-response to that scathing report. He describes a culture of haste and expediency surrounding the opening of the convention center, and clearly states that this did not bode well for safety issues in general. His original report went so far as to recommend criminal inquests, yet there has been no motion over the last year.

Surely, Dr. Wecht can be seen to have axes to grind in the region, but he also has a sterling (professional) reputation to protect. We look forward to observing the tone our civic leaders take in response to these serious allegations.