Engineer: Garage at Wellington medical center unsafe
Construction costs continue to multiply Evacuated after problem with stairwell discovered
Palm Beach County commissioners have approved funding for the second phase of Canyon District Park west of Boynton Beach, but it is unclear where they will find the $13 million to build the four softball-baseball fields and two sand volleyball courts.
Budget officials last month disclosed that construction costs have mushroomed for capital projects throughout the county, increasing two to three
WELLINGTON — Wellington Regional Medical Center evacuated its parking garage on Tuesday after an engineer warned the four-story structure was unsafe. times what was initially projected. The park project was cited as a prime example.
Park officials have $13.8 million, but they need $27 million total to complete the work. The shortfall estimate for all of the county’s capital projects stands at $732 million.
County Administrator Verdenia Baker said last month the county had difficult choices to make. It could reduce the scope of the projects, delay them, scrap them altogether or find money to fund them.
Canyon District Park was the first to come under review. Baker will present funding options to the commission early next year for all of the capital projects. One of the garage’s stairwells needs repairs to prevent it from collapsing and taking a portion of the building down with it, according to the engineer who inspected it on behalf of the medical center, which is in the process of obtaining permits to make repairs.
“Stair is in danger of collapse — it is not a matter of if but when,” read Hallandale Beach engineer Michael Mayor Maria Sachs said residents of the Canyon area have waited far too long for a first-rate park. She called on her colleagues to move the project forward.
The commission authorized the county staff to seek necessary permits by Jan. 1 before a new state building code takes effect. Delaying the project would result in the project costing an additional $240,000 because plans would have to be redrawn, said Isami Ayala-Collazo, the county’s director of Facilities Development and Operations.
She attributed the unexpected
Spicyn’s email to the Village of Wellington. Water damage from an unknown source could be a cause of the problem in the stairwell.
Patients and employees are being asked to leave their cars in parking spaces at The Mall at Wellington Green and are being brought in by shuttles to the medical center, which sits across Forest Hill Boulevard from the shopping area.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Garage is closed as it undergoes planned repairs for the stairwell,” Pamela Rada, spokesperson for the medical center, said in a prepared statement. “We expect the closure will be temporary. In the meantime, our hospital remains fully open and dedicated to patient care.”