The Atlanta Botanical Garden has responded to the environmental news site which last week questioned whether the Piedmont Park, er, parking deck was as “green” as it’s been touted.
After the jump, the garden’s PR people point out what they say were factual errors in Grist’s article. They even invite the Seattle-based news service out for a tour.
A car being removed this afternoon from the Centergy parking deck which collapsed yesterday.
The AJC reports that Hardin Construction, whom we discussed in this space yesterday, is working with clean-up and emergency crews to determine the cause of yesterday’s COLLAPSE THAT SHOOK THE WORLD.
From a statement by Hardin President Bill Pinto:
“Although Hardin’s last direct involvement with the Centergy project was in 2002, senior Hardin staff members were on site immediately, joining others in trying to understand what happened. We will continue to make ourselves available to investigators and offer our full cooperation and assistance.
Metromont, the concrete company that Hardin kind of threw under the bus in a released statement yesterday, says it also has workers on scene and will assist in the investigation.
From a statement by Rick Pennell, CEO of the Greenville, S.C.-based company:
“As has been reported, Metromont Corporation assisted Hardin Construction on this project, which was finished in 2002 and is just one of over 500 parking facilities that our seventy five year old company has helped construct. Our last direct involvement with the garage was in 2002.
More importantly, yesterday’s partial collapse of the parking facility in downtown Atlanta is a terrible incident. We are pleased with the initial reports of no loss of life. Our senior design professionals have been on the site since yesterday afternoon working side by side with fire and public safety officials, assisting them in assessing the structural condition of the building, so that search efforts could begin without further danger to those first responders on the site. I arrived in Atlanta last evening and I am currently on the site with our team. Metromont Corporation is committed to providing whatever assistance, professional expertise or additional resources may be requested in this matter.”
Occupational Safety and Health Administration staffers are also on site. No formal investigation has been launched. The AJC says no one knows exactly whom will lead the investigation into exactly the parking deck collapsed.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
CBS Atlanta reports that Hardin Construction, the big-name firm that managed the construction of the partially-collapsed Cyntergy parking deck in Midtown Atlanta, was also involved in the construction of the Atlanta Botanical Garden walkway that collapsed in December 2008. One worker was killed and 18 others injured in that accident.
The company, which was founded in Atlanta, is behind such notable buildings as 30 Allen Plaza, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation office, Terminus in Buckhead and — well, hell, a bunch of other buildings in metro Atlanta. In April, Hardin was selected by the University of Georgia to build two new parking decks on campus (PDF of the announcement).
A Hardin spokeswoman sent CL this statement:
We were the construction manager on the entire Centergy project, which included two office buildings and the parking facility. The parking facility was completed in December of 2002
For more information on how this deck was designed, fabricated and erected, your best source of information is Metromont Corporation who was responsible for the structure and chosen because of their expertise in precast/prestressed concrete building systems.
We contacted Metromont’s Greenville, S.C. office, but it’s closed for the day. We’ll update when we hear word. Back to the statement!
John Williams has awesome timing. About 10 to 15 minutes before a portion of a Midtown Atlanta parking deck collapsed today, the web designer, who works in a nearby building, says he left the area to get his car’s emissions checked. He returned to find the structure near Technology Square shut down, firetrucks parked, and a crowd gathered wondering just what the hell happened.
In this photo taken this afternoon the middle section of the Centergy parking deck is collapsed onto the floors below it. On the bottom floor cars are smashed on top of each other.
“It looked like a section about five cars wide just fell and took out the next three floors below it,” Williams said in a phone interview with CL. “You can see the cars piled up.”
Williams shot video from the scene. To view them, click the screenshots below.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Duany
Last week, acclaimed New Urbanist Andres Duany visited metro Atlanta to design several mixed-use sites for the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was deliciously brutal in his criticism.
“If Decatur’s great, it’s only in the absence of anything better.”
— Duany rips into the Atlanta neighborhood that the audience claims to be the most walkable.
“The only reason Atlanta isn’t mortified by its urban sprawl is because of its landscape. This the best-looking urban sprawl in the country.”
— Duany claims the region’s low-rolling hills help mask the dumb-growth.
“You have [massive parking decks] all over Atlanta. Who the hell wants to drive to the 15th floor? You feel like a loser even if you find a parking space.”
— Duany says the city’s parking decks should never be taller than five stories.
“Your streets are fantastically dangerous. And it isn’t the muggers. It’s the motorists used to driving fast.”
— Duany points out that the city isn’t safe for pedestrians.
Note: Now that I’ve been provided with maps and designs, I’ll be writing more later in the week about Duany’s presentation and plans. He’s got a lot of interesting ideas for metro Atlanta — Toco Hills and Grant Park, in particular.
