Downtown South Bend streets closing indefinitely to repair parking garage

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- The City of South Bend is closing the intersection of Main Street and Wayne Street in downtown South Bend for the foreseeable future.  

The announcement comes about a month after a piece of concrete fell from the building façade onto the street and sidewalk, according to residents.  

The following is a press release from the South Bend Public Works Department: 

The City of South Bend announces the following street closures to protect against the possibility of falling debris from the parking garage at the northwest corner of Main and Wayne streets. The closures will begin at 10 am on Monday, April 3.     

• Main Street from Jefferson Boulevard to Wayne Street 

• Wayne Street from Main to Michigan streets 

A recent investigation by the City noted that the anchors connecting the concrete façade elements to the building had deteriorated which could lead to portions of the facade falling in the public right-of-way. As a result, the City has determined that Main and Wayne streets adjacent to the parking garage will need to close for the property owner to complete a thorough inspection and to conduct remediation to address the issue. 

The street closures will be in place until further notice. Sidewalks adjacent to the garage will also be closed indefinitely. Northbound traffic on Main Street will detour west on Wayne Street, north on Lafayette Boulevard, then east on Jefferson Boulevard. Southbound traffic will detour east on Jefferson Boulevard, south on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, then west on Western Avenue before rejoining Main Street. 

The property is owned by Bradley Company, and they are responsible for the full inspection and possible building remediation.  

ABC57 spoke with Matt Anderson from Bradley Company, who says they don’t know how much the structural engineer report will cost or what repairs could look like, let alone how long they could take.  

He said the report should take about a week.  

This not only affects through-traffic in the area but the businesses along Main and Wayne, as well as the roughly 200 daily users of the garage.  

Many of them are senior citizens living in the Robertson’s Senior Apartments.  

“I’m more concerned; we're a senior community and we have people in wheelchairs and walkers that now have to go elsewhere, park elsewhere,” said resident Paul Berg. “And that’s a real hardship on them. I just have to walk an extra block, so it doesn’t bother me much.”