People heading to the Xcel Energy Center in Downtown St. Paul are going to have to find another place to park. The RiverCentre parking ramp is closed, just one day after a chunk of concrete fell on a parked car and two days after St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and other local leaders launched a public campaign for $58 million in state money to replace the structure. 

Luckily no one was injured when a slab of concrete measuring 3 feet by 2 feet peeled off the ceiling of the 1,600-stall RiverCentre parking ramp Wednesday night. What's scarier is that Wednesday night there was a concert, Hall and Oates, at the Xcel Energy Center across the street.

According to the Star Tribune, in 2015, city engineers found structural deficiencies, as well as issues associated with the ramp’s design — it doesn’t have sloped floors for drainage, among other problems, and most of its mechanical, electrical and operational systems are original or in poor condition. They recommended demolishing the ramp and building a new one by 2020.

In the press release announcing the closure the City of St. Paul stated that the RiverCentre Ramp was built in 1970. The City of Saint Paul has spent more than $15 million in the last 18 years on repairs and maintenance.

 

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