6 weeks since St. Vincent's garage collapse in Riverside Jacksonville, what's the latest?

Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·3 min read

Robotic technology is being used to help remove the 111 vehicles that were parked in a three-story Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital garage when it partially collapsed Sept. 12.

No one was injured in the collapse of the 17-year-old garage, which adjoins the hospital’s Chartrand Building, across King Street from the emergency room. Portions of the third floor collapsed onto the second floor, prompting Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, the Sheriff's Office, multiple fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles to converge on the hospital.

Six weeks later, there's still been no indication what may have caused the structure to give way.

Contractors are still busy at the site, Ascension spokeswoman Ione Villegas said.

Many questions, few answers What we know about Ascension St. Vincent's garage collapse

"Over the past few weeks, we have utilized a robot-assisted tow truck and a crane to remove vehicles from the first and third floors of the parking garage," she said. "In addition, teams have been removing debris from the damaged area of the garage, allowing us to enter the final phase of vehicle retrieval."

Owners will be contacted directly when their vehicle has been removed. She did not disclose how many vehicles have been removed to date.

Ascension's "number-one priority," she said, "continues to be the safety of our associates, contractors and anyone working near the garage."

A crane on Oct. 5 lifts a car from the upper deck of the parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, where a portion of the structure collapsed Sept. 12. The process of removing the 111 vehicles is still ongoing, as is the investigation into the collapse.
A crane on Oct. 5 lifts a car from the upper deck of the parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, where a portion of the structure collapsed Sept. 12. The process of removing the 111 vehicles is still ongoing, as is the investigation into the collapse.

After the collapse, several medical offices in buildings adjacent to the garage were relocated. But "this event has caused no material change to our operations, including our emergency department, which remains open," Villegas said.

Ascension officials said structural engineers are investigating the cause of the incident but have not disclosed what that work has revealed thus far. They also have not said whether the garage will have to be totally torn down or can be repaired.

"The investigation is ongoing and we have no additional details to provide," Villegas said Monday.

Scary moment at St. Vincent's

At the time of the collapse, Jeffery Whitmore was checking in for a doctor’s appointment at the hospital. "I was terrified,” he said. "I heard a loud boom and the building shook. I looked out and saw the parking garage had collapsed ... and we started to evacuate the building.”

The parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville stands mostly empty Tuesday. Many of the 111 vehicles trapped Sept. 12 when a portion of the parking deck collapsed have been removed using remote-controlled wreckers.
The parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville stands mostly empty Tuesday. Many of the 111 vehicles trapped Sept. 12 when a portion of the parking deck collapsed have been removed using remote-controlled wreckers.

In a video posted on Facebook, nearby resident Jessica Leigh Walton said she was sitting in her house and "could feel the ground shake.”

Several local authorities said it reminded them of another parking garage collapse in downtown Jacksonville. In December 2007, a garage being built beside the 18-story Berkman Plaza II condo tower caved in, killing construction worker Willie Edwards III and injuring 23 others.

The contractor in charge of the Ascension garage's construction in 2006 was Batson-Cook Construction, which is based in Atlanta but has a Jacksonville office. "We stand by our work and our safety practices," the company said.

Photo gallery: Probeunder way of artially collapsed Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital parking garage

During and immediately after construction, the city government does inspections. After that, property owners are responsible for inspections. In this case, that's Ascension St. Vincent’s, which has provided no information about its inspections of the garage.

The Riverside hospital started as a 200-bed hospital in 1928 and today is a sprawling 528-bed medical complex that covers two blocks between Stockton and King streets and many doctors' offices and four parking garages. The campus also includes St. Catherine Laboure Manor, a 240-bed nursing facility

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office drone videos released

Part of the top level of a parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside collapsed damaging vehicles such as this one on Sept. 12, as seen in this Jacksonville Sheriff's Office drone image.
Part of the top level of a parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside collapsed damaging vehicles such as this one on Sept. 12, as seen in this Jacksonville Sheriff's Office drone image.

Per a public records request, the Sheriff's Office also released 20 videos from a drone the agency sent into and above the garage to examine the situation safely.

They show one vehicle completely on its side, but only a few of the parked cars were damaged during the structure's failure. Much of the videos zoom in on license plates to identify whose vehicles were still in the garage.

bcravey@jacksonville.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Progress slow on collapsed hospital parking garage in Jacksonville