BRADENTON — Roughly four and a half years after engineers first warned that Manatee County’s downtown parking garage required major repairs and further investigation, county officials say they are still reassessing the structure’s future after a solicitation for redevelopment failed to produce a viable proposal.
Engineering reports reviewed by TBT show that structural inspectors repeatedly documented worsening deterioration within the aging parking structure between December 2021 and January 2026, while county officials simultaneously shifted tens of millions of dollars originally allocated for the garage’s rebuild toward the purchase and renovation of a secondary, east campus administration building in Lakewood Ranch.
The reports, prepared by Karins Engineering, identified widespread hollow-sounding concrete that exhibited cracking and spalling on both the tops and bottoms of multiple levels in the garage. The reports also noted water intrusion and deterioration of prior repairs…