Major car park could face closure unless urgent repairs are completed |
An investigation has found a number of faults at the multistorey St Andrews site in Norwich, which could lead to it becoming unsafe.
City Hall is now considering spending £500,000 on the most urgent repairs to steelworks and drainage systems, with a wider £3m project also needed to ensure the future of the facility.
The entrance to St Andrews Car Park (Image: Denise Bradley/Archant)
The works could require part of the car park to be closed to complete the repairs. In 2015, repairs required about a third of the car park's spaces to be temporarily shut.
St Andrews car park is one of the largest in the city, offering 1,084 spaces, so any closure would have a major impact.
A recent survey identified problems with the steelworks, drainage systems and surfaces.
Inside St Andrews Car Park in Norwich (Image: Newsquest)
An officer said in a report: "The survey identified a number of problems... all of which could affect the long-term safety and use of the facility if left unresolved.
"The car park is an important local asset. It supports transport links, brings in a significant revenue stream and serves the community.
"If the issues aren’t addressed in a timely way, there would be a risk of closure, which would impact both users and parking account income."
The entrance to St Andrews Car Park in Norwich (Image: Owen Sennitt)
Following the survey's findings, the council considered shutting the car park permanently as one of its options.
But officials urged against this and called for the repairs to be completed, in part due to the car park being a significant money-maker for City Hall, raising about £3.2m in revenue annually.
The officer's report said: "Doing nothing is not viable. Failure to act will lead to progressive deterioration and eventual closure."
Cars are getting larger and heavier (Image: Denise Bradley)
The need for repairs comes at a time when the growing size and weight of vehicles has been blamed for causing increased damage to road surfaces.
Engineers have also warned older multistorey car parks may be particularly affected by heavier cars as they were not designed to cope with the weight and it could cause overloading, damaging the steel frames.
Inside St Andrews Car Park in Norwich (Image: Newsquest)
PROBLEMS FROM THE START
St Andrews car park was built to replace a previous multi-storey car park in the same spot, but its opening in 2005 was delayed and it ended up costing nearly £1m than expected.
The original multistorey St Andrews Car Park, before it was demolished in the early 2000s. (Image: Newsquest)
Part of that was because money had to spent to settle an access dispute, with workers being paid a £155,000 'incentive' to make some spaces available for Christmas 2004, before the car park shut again for the rest of the work to be completed.
Work to demolish St Andrews Car Park, photographed in the early 2000s. (Image: Newsquest)
The £9.3m car park went on to win an award for 'best new car park of the year'.
Work proceeds on the new St Andrews car park off Duke Street in Norwich in 2004. (Image: Newsquest)
A sign celebrating the car park receiving an award for 'best new car park' in 2006. (Image: Newsquest)
But four years after it opened, cracks were discovered and props were put in place to secure the building.
In 2015, City Hall spent £1.1m to repair the facility, which required a third of the spaces to be closed off.
A further £1.2m was spent in 2022 to improve the car park, which included adding safety improvements to prevent suicide attempts.
The Labour-run cabinet will discuss the repair project at a meeting this week to agree on beginning the tendering process to find a contractor to complete the work.