Oak Park’s village board has approved spending up to $665,000 to complete time-sensitive safety repairs to the structure of The Avenue Parking Garage.
The approval came at the board’s meeting Tuesday, where experts emphasized that the structure remains safe to use for now but unexpected additional repairs are needed.
In 2022, Walker Consultants, Inc. had assessed maintenance needed for three village garages and repairs were scheduled for each. However, upon working on The Avenue Parking Garage at 720 North Blvd., workers discovered additional damage to the concealed post-tensioned slab tendons on the underside of the second level.
These tendons are steel cables within concrete slabs that help support a structure, according to Dan Moser, the vice president at Walker Consultants. It’s not unusual for a structure of this age to have water or other types of damage, he said, because the importance of plastic sheeting to protect these tendons was not emphasized in construction practices when it was built.
“The reason we’re recommending abandoning the old post-tensioning system isn’t that we couldn’t put in new tendons,” Moser said. “It’s just that they’ll have the same weaknesses they had before, and they will corrode again.”
The village could instead replace these tendons with steel beams that could cost a bit more but will likely last twice as long. Steel beams would cost about $500,000 to $600,000, according to village officials, while repairing the tendons could cost anywhere between $350,000 and $650,000.
Currently, six of the 14 exposed tendons in this garage are not functioning properly. Walker Consultants recommended repairs to begin by Sept. 2 or that weekly inspections occur to assess any further safety concerns or damage.
The structure is still safe, Moser emphasized. It’s hard to give an exact timeline of when this repair becomes an emergency, but he said that the village probably has about six months. Moser also said while it’s a possibility, he doesn’t expect this to be a widespread problem in all levels of the garage.
Part of the repair process will include studying this issue further and making sure it’s not a problem on other floors of this garage or in the village’s other garages, according to Emily Egan, the village’s development services director. Egan also said the village is exploring ways to recover the additional cost, including through liability or insurance avenues.
The board also approved an additional amendment to the agreement with Walker Consultants for $60,000. This agreement will allow the village to work with the consultants to review pricing for materials, monitor the work and design documents outlining repairs, Egan said.
“If someone does good maintenance, structural repairs, like you’ve been doing here, all of your garages can go much longer,” Moser said, estimating they could last 20 years past the expected 40 to 50 years. “You are not at end of the life of any of your garages because you’re maintaining them.”