Fook C. Kan Plaque

Within South Station and many other subway stations across Boston, commemorative plaques can be found in abundance. Most are dedicated to the opening of the station, long-term employees, or other significant events. One plaque memorializing a fallen construction worker seems simple enough, but upon closer examination, it reveals inaccuracies and mysteries. 

Fook Choi Kan of Springfield, MA, was working in Boston when he fell from a beam into a pit underneath South Station and died the next day. The plaque lists his date of death as August 17, 2000, when the actual incident took place on August 16, 1999. In addition, the plaque says he was working on the construction of the Red Line at South Station. However, South Station became part of the Red Line in 1916, over 80 years before Kan’s death, and he was instead working on the Central Artery Project, more commonly known as the Big Dig.

Lastly, who commissioned and installed the plaque is a mystery. The MBTA and MassDOT have no record of ever placing the plaque or of where it came from. In addition, Kan’s union, North Atlantic States Carpenters Union Local 327, also has no knowledge of the plaque and its origins. It’s entirely possible it was commissioned by friends and family of Kan who had the plaque installed secretly. Certainly, it is a peculiarity among the many plaques found across Boston subway stations.