Mike Faher
mfaher@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN —
With complaints and insurance claims mounting, Johnstown officials finally are set to tackle pervasive problems at the Main Street East parking garage.
City Manager Kristen Denne said the 29-year-old structure will undergo major repairs that are expected to begin before winter.
But Denne also sought to reassure the hundreds who park at the garage daily, saying an engineering survey found no immediate danger.
“If I thought there was any type of safety issue, I’d have had people out of there yesterday,” Denne said.
Such caution is necessary, especially given the city’s recent history: The deteriorated Washington Street garage partially collapsed in November 2008 and later was demolished.
Officials say the Main Street East garage – which opened in 1981 as part of a $6 million retail, office and bus-terminal development – is not so far gone.
Nonetheless, those who drive or walk through the structure are well aware of its problems.
“There have been complaints about some of the cement deteriorating, and there have been some missing pieces,” said city Councilwoman Ann Wilson, who parks at Main Street East.
Wilson added that most complaints have focused on roof drainage that has damaged some vehicles.
“Some people went out and got tarps and put them over their cars,” she said.
The problem also surfaced in 2007 when CamTran officials, who were renovating the bus terminal, raised concerns about rust damage. But cash-strapped city officials did not undertake any repairs at that time or since.
That’s about to change. Denne said there are issues with the garage’s concrete and steel that cannot be ignored, despite an estimated $100,000 price tag for repairs.
“Leakage and moisture have been the main culprits that have caused the deterioration,” she said.
While some design work remains, the renovation plan includes placement of additional reinforced steel on the concrete slabs, Denne said.
Closing the garage entirely for repairs would cause the city additional financial distress, since about 300 motorists have monthly parking permits at Main Street East. So Denne is proposing a phased approach.
“I’ve been working on a plan to close that structure floor-by-floor so that there would still be parking available,” she said, adding that temporarily displaced commuters could use meters on the garage’s first and second floors.
Denne also said a recent review by The EADS Group found that, while the situation is not good, there has been no significant deterioration at the garage since a similar review about three years ago.
“The problem is not getting worse,” Denne said. “It just exists.”
In another parking-related matter, officials disclosed that they also must rectify problems with security wiring at the city’s Intermodal Transportation Center garage at Walnut and Vine streets.
The wiring job “was never completed,” City Finance Director Carlos Gunby told council members this week.
The ITC garage is the city’s newest, having opened in late 2003 as part of a “renaissance” project that also included construction of the Pasquerilla Conference Center.
