URBANA – A jury has decided that a local preservation organization and the city of Tuscola owe Tuscola Police Chief Craig Hastings more than $2.1 million for injuries Hastings received during a fall at the old North Ward School building in 2004.

A Champaign County jury ruled on Tuesday that the Preservation and Conservation Association of Champaign County owes Hastings $1,482,616.80 and the city of Tuscola owes him $635,407.23, although Hastings didn’t sue the city.

Hastings was injured when he fell down an opening at the old school where a spiral staircase had been removed by preservationists.

Hastings sued PACA for removing the staircase allegedly without putting up barricades or signs warning the staircase was no longer there.

PACA, in turn, sued the city for being partially responsible for the incident. PACA personnel removed the staircase leading from an upstairs gymnasium to the locker rooms as part of its salvage operations.

After about three hours of deliberations, the jury decided PACA should pay 70 percent of the total, with the city paying 30 percent. The jury ruled that PACA and the city owed Hastings $143,079.21 for his medical bills; $24,944.95 for Hastings’ lost wages; $1,250,000 to compensate for physical pain and suffering; and $500,000 for Hastings’ loss of normal life activities.

In addition, the jury ruled that PACA owed Hastings’ wife, Kalee, $200,000 for her damages, including the loss of love, affection and sexual relations.

“It has been a long four years,” said Hastings as he left the courtroom. “The money is nice, but I would give back every penny in exchange for not having to endure all this suffering.”

Hastings said he plans to continue to serve as police chief.

“I’ve got boys who are 5 and 7, so I need to keep working as long as I am able to,” Hastings said.

“I’m extremely happy that the jury did the right thing,” said Hastings’ attorney, Ryan E. Yagoda of Chicago. “But no amount of money takes away the injuries of the past.”

Tuscola City Administrator Drew Hoel said he was disappointed with the jury’s decision against the city.

“We’re happy for Craig, and I think it was a just verdict,” Hoel said. “But I was surprised and disappointed that the jury found that the city of Tuscola shares some responsibility for the incident.”

The school building, now demolished, was owned by the city at the time of Hasting’s fall, but PACA had contracted with the city to salvage some of the building. On Sept. 30, 2004, Hastings was alone in the building to set up a training exercise for the next day for the fire department. He was looking for an outlet to plug in a portable radio when he fell down the stairwell where the iron staircase had been removed.

Yagoda said the police chief sustained fractures to his upper body, including his back and collar bone, that required surgery, and damage to his left ear that required reconstruction. The suit claimed Hastings suffered brain injuries, hemorrhaging and hearing loss and was permanently disabled and disfigured.

Hastings, who has returned to his job as police chief, testified that he still has constant ringing in his ears and has lost some of his sense of taste and smell.

PACA’s attorney, Michael E. Raub of Urbana, said a PACA member had placed yellow warning tape in front of the space where Hastings fell, but Hastings testified he saw no such tape.

“Not one single witness ever said they saw the claimed barricade,” Yagoda said in closing arguments.

The two sides also disagreed over whether a door leading to the stairwell had been removed at the time of Hastings’ fall.

Hoel also said he never received a memo that PACA said it sent to the city advising him that it was removing the staircase.

“It was Drew’s understanding that the staircases were not coming out,” John Fleming, the Peoria attorney who represented the city, said in closing arguments.