The City of Grand Forks is awaiting the results of concrete sampling to help determine whether to proceed with acquisition of the county parking ramp.
Grand Forks County consultants have said the 25-year old downtown ramp is in need of some major repairs to the tune of more than $6.3 million dollars.
The city hired an outside engineering firm to take a third party look at the structure. SNSolutions didn’t assign a dollar amount to the repair work but concurred with early observations that the concrete structure needs considerable work. The report says while catastrophic failure is unlikely – the cost of repairs will only go up over time.
The two sides have had some preliminary discussion about the ramp that could include a property exchange of trade for the parking structure.
City Administrator Todd Feland says the concrete sampling results are expected any day now. Feland says they will be useful in determining how to proceed.
Council President Dana Sande says despite the findings to date the city has some interest moving forward. “With the redevelopment of the old water treatment plant there is going to be a need for additional parking for potential tenants. There is considerable space along that corridor for multi-purpose buildings.”
County Administrator Tom Ford says a decision on the ownership of the ramp needs to be made soon so short and long-term maintenance costs can be addressed.
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