[media-credit name=’AJ MacLean/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The second-story balcony railing of 453 W. Mifflin Street, where a University of Wisconsin freshman fell last August, has been raised this week in preparation for the Mifflin Street Block Party.

Goulette Property Management Owner Steve Goulette, who owns the house, said the railing of the Mifflin Street balcony was raised to 42 inches, which is the current city building code. The railing had previously been approximately 30 inches tall.

“The block party is the motivation for [the reconstruction] definitely. We changed the railing height … because there is a certain portion of the population that can’t act responsibly — that refuse to act responsibly,” Goulette said. “That’s a huge problem.”

According to Goulette, the house was constructed 105 years ago, but no one had fallen from the balcony until last year.

When former UW student Jason Gratzl fell from the balcony in August, the house was still compliant with city codes because the code allows existing railings to stay at their current height.

“You have to step back and ask yourself if it’s railing height or excessive drinking,” Goulette said.

Greg Suddeth of GS Apartments, LLC and his family own about 25 houses on Mifflin Street. Suddeth fixed up the porch of one house on the 400 block of Mifflin Street this week, but said it was a routine re-construction and not because of the upcoming block party.

“If you own downtown property, you should be prepared every weekend,” Suddeth said.

According to Suddeth, whether attending a party or walking across the street, students should always think about safety and “use your head.”

“I don’t mind the block party, and I don’t mind kids having fun,” Suddeth said. “I hope everyone has a lot of safe fun that weekend.”

However, for some students, a “fun” night has ended tragically. UW freshman Sean Weas fell from a balcony at a College Court party Jan. 21, suffering a hairline fracture of the skull and broken bone in his neck, and 18-year-old Gratzl is still recovering from his accident in August.

Gratzl’s mother, Angie Gratzl, said he is re-learning how to walk and talk at a rehabilitation center in Milwaukee. Gratzl spends all week in therapy and comes home on the weekends, she added.

“He’s doing better than they had anticipated but … he’s likely not to be able to go back to school or work. I think that’s pretty much done for him,” Angie Gratzl said. “At 18, his life is totally different. Everything that he ever wanted isn’t going to happen anymore.”

Angie Gratzl said she is “99.9 percent sure” her son would not have fallen from the balcony if alcohol had not been involved, but added she believes all of the porches around a university, especially at houses which are exclusively rented to students, should be raised.

“Obviously we’re not stopping the students from drinking at UW-Madison,” Angie Gratzl said. “So if you can’t curb that, then I think homeowners need to take precautions … they know what could happen.”

Goulette added some landlords are nervous because of the potential for two separate block parties which is “definitely a heightened state of concern.”