More than three years after a section of the Chartrand parking garage caved in at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside, hospital officials say restoration work is finally set to begin next month. The garage at 1860 King St. partially collapsed on September 12, 2023, when the third level fell onto the second, and it has remained closed and roped off ever since.
According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, Ascension Health Resource and Supply Management Group LLC, the St. Louis-based project owner, plans to start restoration in October 2026. The city of Jacksonville is currently reviewing a permit to demolish and restore the collapsed section, and the project is expected to run about $5 million, per the same account. Doral-based Florida Lemark Corp. will serve as contractor, with Kimley-Horn and Associates, based in Chamblee, Georgia, working as civil engineer.
The work will involve demolishing and replacing select precast structural members within the existing deck, along with restoring affected building systems and finishes, the newspaper’s report states. The garage, built in 2006, has three stories and offered no self-parking option for patients even before the collapse, according to the Daily Record’s account.
The Night the Deck Gave Way
When the collapse happened in September 2023, 111 vehicles were parked inside the garage, according to News4JAX. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department technical rescue teams deployed K-9 search dogs to sweep the rubble and confirm no one was trapped beneath the collapsed ramp, and no injuries were reported. Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside said in a statement, per First Coast News, that the third level of the Chartrand building’s parking garage fell onto the second level…