Structural concerns at Pearl Street parking garage to require engineer's inspection
FALL RIVER — Tall, wooden Jenga-like towers located on all three levels of the Pearl Street parking garage were ordered placed there a few months ago after Director of Inspectional Services Glenn Hathaway became concerned with the structural integrity of the decades-old concrete building.
Now the city is planning on hiring a structural engineer to perform an inspection of the parking garage to survey its condition.
“The beams from the upper deck are compromised due to water and frost and it has sagged, so we put the temporary supports in,” said Hathaway. “They need an engineer to review the building.”
Vehicles haven’t been allowed to park on the third level at the Pearl Street garage for years, said Hathaway, and the wooden structures installed as reinforcements if needed, are on all three decks as a precaution.
“I go there every other day to check on them,” said Hathaway.
Mayor Paul Coogan said his administration is aware of the building inspector’s concerns and walked through the parking garage with City Administrator Seth Aitken and Hathaway.
“We walked it with the context of we were going to brace certain sections and we were going to get it ready what it's going to cost us to get it done,” said Coogan.
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Past concerns about city parking garages
The city’s two municipal parking garages, the Pearl Street and Third Street structures, last got public attention in May 2017 when former building inspector Joseph Biszko shut down the top two floors of the Third Street parking garage.
Then owned by the Fall River Redevelopment Authority and managed by the former Fall River Office of Economic Development (now BCEDC), Biszko issued a cease-and-desist order due to structural issues.
A few months earlier, RDA received a preliminary structural report on Third Street that found significant structural damage with reinforcements exposed and corroded. They determined there is a risk of concrete dislodging and falling to the level below.
In November 2017 a more in-depth survey of Third Street, built in 1982 revealed even more concerning structural issues, likely from faulty construction and years of little to no maintenance.
A survey was also done at the time on the Pearl Street garage, showing it was in better shape. The report suggested plowing the facility with rubber-tipped snow plows, using no salt materials for de-icing and beginning a regular maintenance routine.
In early 2019 under the administration of former mayor Jasiel Correia II, the City Council voted to take back ownership of the two parking structures.
Former mayor Robert Correia had turned the properties over to RDA in 2008.
Significant work on Third Street
After taking over the two garages, the city upgraded the structure with electric kiosks, replacing staffing provided by an outside vendor.
The city has set to work on structural upgrades to the Third Street garage.
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“All the brackets have been installed, all the lighting has been changed, all the emergency lights in the stairway have been changed. It’s been painted and we hired a company a few months ago and cleaned,” said Laura Ferreira. director of Traffic & Parking, whose department oversees the two municipal parking garages. “My guys go there three days a week and clean up anything that needs to be cleaned.”
Ferreira said basically all the work is near completion except for new cables that will be installed, saying that it is likely being manufactured. A structural engineer had to approve the quality of the cable before it went into production.
Ferreira said that after the work is completed, she will not be opening the top tier of the four-story parking garage, but will gain about 60 more parking spaces at Third Street. It’s needed in the downtown area with all of the new businesses openings and housing being constructed in the area, she said.
“The demand is there,” said Ferreira.
Jo C. Goode may be reached at jgoode@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today!
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Structural concerns at Pearl Street parking garage in Fall River
