‘It’s miraculous’: No injuries in collapse

The parking deck that partially collapsed in Midtown Monday was part of a project built in 2002 by the same Atlanta contractor, Hardin Construction Co., that erected the ill-fated walkway at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

The garden’s Canopy Walk collapsed during construction in December, killing one worker and injuring 18. Authorities said it appears that no one was hurt in the collapse Monday of the Centergy parking deck on Spring Street at Abercrombie Place.

Hardin spokeswoman Barkley Russell, in an e-mailed statement, said the company was thankful that no one was hurt. Hardin was construction manager on the project, she said, but she noted that Metromont Corp. designed, fabricated and erected the garage. Metromont was “chosen because of their expertise in precast/prestressed concrete building systems,” she said.

“To put this incident in perspective there are 1,415 spaces in this deck,” Russell wrote. “One section was involved, and it is estimated that approximately 35 spaces were affected.”

Firefighters and police with dogs had planned to search “every car and every corner” Monday evening, the fire chief said, but they suspended the search after 30 minutes amid concern that the structure was unstable.

“We are worried about the entire soundness of the structure,” said Atlanta police Maj. Joseph Spillane. “Bolts were popping out on the [Abercrombie Place] side and we are worried about it collapsing.”

Firefighters then set to work outside building wooden structures they could use to shore up the garage, and engineers were doing some welding on the fourth floor to improve the building’s stability. Authorities expected to resume the search later Monday night.

A hasty inspection earlier turned up no sign of anyone injured.

“It’s miraculous to say this occurred at 12:30 on a Monday and we have no victims,” Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said. “We’re still keeping our fingers and toes crossed.”

Authorities said the middle section of the Centergy parking garage collapsed from the fourth floor down, damaging about 35 cars.

“There was a pancake effect all the way down to the ground floor,” Fire Department spokesman Bobby Stewart said.

City officials said Monday the parking deck did not have any violations recorded by the city’s Bureau of Buildings and had not been examined since its original inspections in 2001 and 2002.

The structure is owned by Atlantic Capital Properties and the architect was Atlanta-based Smallwood Reynolds Stewart, according to building permits.

A building permit was issued for the deck in December 2001, and a revised permit issued in August 2002 for its entrance, said Catherine Woodling, spokeswoman for Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Inspections were done both times and no problems were found, she said.

“No further inspections are usually done on properties after they have been issued a certificate of occupancy,” said Woodling, adding that only a complaint would have prompted a new inspection.

People at the scene were stunned by the collapse.

Chad Parker had just worked out at L.A. Fitness and was getting items from his car when the building started to shake.

“It sounded like a big dump truck was dumping a load full of rock,” Parker said. “All this dust started falling and the parking attendant came running and told everyone to get out.”

He could later see the front windshield of his Nissan intact, though he doesn’t know about the rest of the vehicle.

Candice Crossfield, who works at Electric Cities of Georgia, entered the parking deck moments after the collapse —- unaware of what had just happened.

She walked up to her car on the fourth floor and that’s when she saw the gaping hole.

“I said, ‘Oh my God.’ It was an amazing sight,” she said.

Crossfield walked up to the edge, near a car with two wheels dangling over the side, snapped a photo with her cellphone (see Page A1) and called her boss. Late for a lunch appointment, she then drove out of the garage.