Authorities: Razorback Stadium construction worker taken to hospital

Construction continues Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, at Razorback Stadium on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

4:40 P.M. UPDATE:

A University of Arkansas, Fayetteville spokesman says a Razorback Stadium construction worker who was taken to a nearby hospital Monday had a "personal health issue."

Steve Voorhies said the construction contractor for the project, Little Rock-based CDI Contractors, told UA the hospitalization was unrelated to the worksite. Earlier, officials said blood tests were being done Monday afternoon to determine if the man was sickened by carbon monoxide.

CDI referred questions from the Democrat-Gazette to its Fayetteville office. Multiple phone messages were left there with no response from the company.

EARLIER:

A construction worker at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium was taken to a nearby hospital about noon Monday, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville authorities said.

The employee was running a space heater in an enclosed area of the construction site in the field's north end zone that was not ventilating correctly, a university police spokesman* said.

The construction employee is not affiliated with the university, he added.

The police spokesman said the worker's injuries were not life-threatening. Blood tests were being done Monday afternoon to determine if the man was sickened by carbon monoxide, according to UA spokesman Steve Voorhies.

The university is renovating the stadium as part of a project expected to raise stadium capacity to about 76,000 from 72,000. The estimated $160 million project, which also involves renovation work, is considered the costliest construction in campus history.

*CORRECTION: The police spokesman who spoke about the construction worker was misidentified in an earlier version of this story.