JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A crack in a parking garage has some patients at a Jacksonville hospital concerned for their safety.
The crack in the side of the 3rd floor of the Dillon garage at Ascension St. Vincent’s in Riverside is visible from Riverside Avenue.
This is the same hospital where a ramp of a different parking garage collapsed in September 2023.
“The crack is in a barrier wall, and the barrier wall doesn’t appear to be tied to the significant structural portions like the columns," said Jacksonville-based Structural Engineer Ron Woods.
Woods says, based on looking at pictures of the crack in the Ascension St. Vincent Dillon Garage, it doesn’t seem to indicate a collapse risk for the third floor as a whole.
He feels the biggest safety concern from the crack may not even be in the garage, but around it.
“It may have been hit a couple of times by cars, and if it comes down, it could create property damage or if somebody happened to be below it, some significant injury," said Woods.
The top two floors of the parking garage are shut down with construction crews working inside and on the roof.
It’s not the only garage under construction, as there are still no cars inside Garage 4, where a ramp collapsed in September of 2023.
While you can see the repair progress from the street there, Woods says the crack in the Dillon Garage shouldn’t take nearly as long to fix.
“It’s a relatively simple repair," said Woods. "You would take down the existing wall. Just tear it down, and replace it with a new wall. Just tie it into the structure.”
Two parking spots by the crack are roped off, and Woods says it shouldn’t impact drivers parking on the third floor.
“Each wall is independent of the adjacent wall, so it shouldn’t be an issue with that," said Woods.
First Coast News emailed the media team for the hospital last night and I called and emailed today to see how long the crack has been an issue and if it is impacting parking at all beyond roping off a few parking spots.
However, they haven't responded just yet.