Structural issues in a downtown Fargo parking garage could force the Ground Transportation Center and the Municipal Courts to relocate. (Photo: KVRR)
FARGO (KVRR) – An underground parking garage on Fourth Street North in downtown Fargo runs under both the Municipal Court building and the Ground Transportation Center, and city engineers say that structural problems with the parking structure could force both buildings to relocate.
“I’ve said multiple times that this structure is very good at holding its secrets. We don’t know what we don’t know, and what we do know is definitely concerning,” KLJ Engineer Cassie McNames told Fargo City Commissioners.
Engineers discovered the problems while working on the multi-million dollar project to enhance the Ground Transportation Center.
Tendons that run across the roof of the structure to support the deck had snapped at a far higher rate than expected.
“This last go around, we had 25 tendons, two of them were known. And even just recently, last week, there was another tendon that we found ruptured through the bottom of the garage surface,” McNames said.
Now they’re saying that the status quo is no longer an option, and that relocation may be necessary for both the GTC and the Municipal Court building.
“The second step would be to do a full scale analysis on that structure to figure out where we’re at, because again, we don’t know what we don’t know. We’ve uncovered a lot of things, but it’s not always external that we’re seeing that damage,” McNames said.
“If we were to go back and fix the things that are broken now, I think it will just recur. The things that are still in good shape will then break,” Commissioner Chad Peterson said.
And the timeframe is moving fast.
“There’s no imminent danger or threat to the public right now, or to our employees that are working there. We’re just moving as fast as we can, and pausing our progress and the work that we were going to be doing to figure out an alternative, is that correct?” Mayor Josh Boschee asked.
“We will be on-site monitoring just to identify if there’s any additional issues that come up, but I believe I’ve been told that it’s a 30 day timeline to relocate to try to get people out,” McNames said.
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