UPS TRUCK CRASHES INTO HIRSHHORN MUSEUM'S FACADE

THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN MADE AN UNINTENTIONAL ACQUISITION LAST NIGHT WHEN A UPS TRUCK VEERED FROM THE STREET, BREAKING THROUGH CEMENT PLANTERS PLACED OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING AND CRASHING INTO THE GLASS-FRONTED LOBBY OF THE ICONIC WASHINGTON DC INSTITUTION. THE DRIVER HAD BEEN TRAVELING PAST THE MUSEUM ON INDEPENDENCE AVENUE SW, THE STREET THAT RUNS PAST THE CAPITAL'S TOURIST HEAVY MUSEUM DISTRICT ON THE WASHINGTON MALL, WHEN THE DRIVER 'SUFFERED SOME KIND OF MEDICAL CONDITION, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS, AND LOST CONTROL OF THE TRUCK' AROUND 8.30pm, A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE MUSEUM SAID IN A RECENT OVERVIEW. BEFORE STRIKING THE MUSEUM, TRAVELING ABOUT A FOOT OR SO THROUGH THE LOBBY'S EXTERIOR, THE UPS TRUCK PASSED BETWEEN CLAUS OLDENBURG'S 1791 SCULPTURE GEOMETRIC MOUSE AND JIM SANDBORN'S 1997 COPPER AND PETRIFIED WOOD SCULPTURE ANTIPODES, WHICH STAND IN THE BUILDING'S COURTYARD. THE DRIVER WAS TAKEN TO AN AREA HOSPITAL WITH 'SERIOUS BUT NOT LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES'. BECAUSE THE HIRSHHORN IA A FEDERAL BUILDING, THE METROPOLITAN POLICE'S SQUAD WAS CALLED IN TO CLEAR THE AREA AND SCREEN THE PACKAGES IN THE UPS TRUCK, BUT NO SUSPICIOUS MATERIAL WAS FOUND. 'THE ONLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION WE HAD THAT THERE WAS A FUEL SPILL FRO THE TRUCK, BUT WE CLEANED THAT UP', THE MUSEUM SPOKESPERSON SAID. AS OF TUESDAY AFTERNOON PLYWOOD WAS COVERING THE DAMAGED SITE ON THE MUSEUM'S FACADE, BUT THE LOBBY WAS OPEN TO VISITORS.