Truman Balcony Truman Balcony The Truman Balcony is the second-floor balcony of the Executive Residence of the White House, which overlooks the south lawn. It was completed in March 1948, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Truman's plans to build a balcony off the Yellow Oval Room were controversial. Truman argued that the addition of a balcony would provide shade for the first floor portico, avoiding the need for awnings, and would balance the White House's south face by breaking up the long verticals created by the columns. Critics of the proposal, including members of the Commission of Fine Arts, argued
2003 Chicago balcony collapse the building that the balconies were unsafe, but another later said that "it looked like it was newly built. It looked sturdy." About fifty people were on the top wooden balcony at the time of the collapse. According to one witness, the sound of splintering wood was heard immediately before the collapse, which occurred shortly after midnight local time. The collapse started on the third floor, pulling down other balconies below. The first, second, and third floor balconies all collapsed into the basement below, carrying a total of approximately one hundred people among them. Several people were also trapped in