It took over $6 million dollars, months of labor and inconvenience for downtown shoppers and business people, and it was nearly five months behind schedule, but what mattered most to city officials, retailers and their customers was that the deck was finally open. City Manager Kip Padgett said a safety inspection allowed a temporary occupancy permit; the elevators are not running yet, but vehicles can park.
"We wanted to be careful that everything was in order," Padgett said. "We issued a temporary certificate of occupancy permit. That means basically that our inspections department feels all the life safety issues have been addressed."
Padgett said there are some minor outstanding issues that need to be addressed by the contractor before a final occupancy permit is issued but the temporary permit allows motorists to begin using the parking deck. One of those items is the elevators for the four-story structure. Padgett said they are being installed and the storm pipe underneath the parking deck needs to be lined.
"Our inspections department along with a third party engineer did a radar test of the soil around the pipe and determined there were no (voids), washouts around the pipe and the elevator shafts were secured," Padgett said.
Padgett said weather was a significant factor in delaying the deck's completion, originally projected for July this year, but added the city met its goal of having it open in time for the holiday shopping season.
"We're blessed to have all this rain, but it did come with a cost of delaying the parking deck and there was the process, this was a big project," Padgett said.
Downtown merchant Don Griffin with Frames-You-Nique said now it's time to spread the word about the new parking spaces.
"The big thing we have to do is to re-educate the people and let them know that they can come downtown and find easy parking," Griffin said.
Following the initial announcement that the deck was open, it remained largely empty except for construction vehicles.
"I got the word about 3:15 p.m. today, and it was definitely an early Christmas present, "Griffin said.
but what mattered most to city officials, retailers and their customers was that it over 400 new parking spaces are now available
what mattered most to city officials, retailers and their customers was that the deck was finally open
The temporary C.O allows motorists to begin using the parking deck
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/11/225002