Excerpts from Structural Report on Beach Buildings - dated March 2001

Re-post: This is ANOTHER bumping up of this post in light of the question I asked at Tuesday's City Commission meeting. The excuse given for not having a new structural report was the equivalent of "the dog ate my homework". Personally, I didn't think we needed another report prepared by a new structural engineer, as this one seemed fairly complete and from a reputable party. The story is that the City engaged a new structural engineer and now they can't be found, dropped the ball, etc?

This is still a very important matter. Can we please find a way to make sure that public safety is being addressed and protected?

In the year 2000, the City Commission appointed the Beach Steering Committee. This committee was made up of mostly Planning and Zoning Board members, but was expanded to include members of the community at large. Two that I can remember off the top of my head were Peter Timm and Doug McIntee. There were others. The Committee was formed after the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council initiative which included a visioning session and charettes, resulting in a master redevelopment plan for the beach. The Committee's charge was "fine-tuning" the master plan, with an emphasis on making it practical to build, determining costs and educating the public.

The Committee's work led the way to the ill-fated general obligation bond issue of 2002. The decision to go ahead with the bond issue referendum was rushed and eliminated what I, and many on the Committee, thought was the most important part of the Committee's work - public education regarding the project leading up to the bond issue. Timing was bad too since it coincided with someone's view being blocked by mangroves, but we'll leave that story for another day. I think the bond issue, which would have funded a City-run redevelopment project at the beach, lost on a "no" vote of 63%, if memory serves me correctly. Looking at the situation we have before us today, many have come to believe that a successful City bond issue to fund beach improvements would have been the best way to go, but that was not to be.

The first charge of the Committee was to determine the existing physical state of the Casino building. We agreed that the public would want to know about the condition of the existing building and whether it could be rehabilitated or not. The City Commission engaged the services of a structural engineer to assess the condition of the building and excerpts of the report appear below.

Why is this important to review now? Besides being one of the most important works encouraged by the Beach Steering Committee, it talks about a building that is still with us today - with all of the same environmental conditions present that were there six years ago.

Just because some choose to attack the current structure and plan for redevelopment of the City's beach, doesn't stop the passage of time. Just look at the recent pictures that I took of the condition of the building. These are not just "cosmetic" problems; they are evidence of processes taking place deep within the building that we can only see manifestations in certain places. Those places are "open sores" in clear public view. More importantly, they represent possible public safety hazards as they are in areas where the public congregate: i.e. the line for John G's restaurant.

The City was accused at the time for not making repairs to the building and putting barricades up leading up to the bond issue as a way of promoting passage of the bond issue. When the referendum failed, the City undertook a series of cosmetic repairs. However, evidence of those repairs is no where to be seen now in three critical areas. These are highlighted by the color photos in this post.

The point here is that we need to do something. We have an opportunity to achieve our goals in the public/private partnership that City has with Greater Bay. In the meantime, we still need to protect the public and either barricade these problem areas or repair them, hopefully for the last time. Remember, the existing Casino building will be one of the last things taken down as part of the proposed phasing plan.

You can click on any one of the images and they will be brought up in another window. You can also right click on the image and "save image" to your hard drive for future reference. I also have a .pdf copy of the full report. If you would like me to e-mail to you, please contact me at wesblackman@gmail.com.

The above excerpt is of interest as it discusses the original Casino building in relation to the post-WWII addition/remodeling which we see today.



Look at the first paragraph in the excerpt above. It is so important, it bears repeating here in bold type: "The type and severity of conditions identified during our investigation vary from location to location, but the extent and quantity of damage is significant. The immediate concern with the deterioration of the reinforced concrete elements is the advanced state of deterioration, especially along the eastern facade, here the public has unrestricted access. The potential for concrete to dislodge and fall from the spalled or deteriorated areas is extremely high."

The photos below indicate the three areas that are all easily visible along the building's eastern and northern edges. Arrows indicate cracks that emanate from the exposed areas.




Please encourage our elected officials to address this issue in the interest of public safety.

Update: I brought this issue up under public comment at the City Commission meeting last night (7/17). I followed up by e-mailing the Mayor and Commissioners a copy of the report and the above pictures.