New London – The privately owned parking garage on Governor Winthrop Boulevard is showing its age and in need of maintenance but structurally sound, according to a new report ordered by the city.

A structural condition assessment of the garage was prepared by e2 engineers on behalf of garage owner William Cornish, who said Tuesday the report clarifies for critics, “it ain’t falling down.”

The condition of the 45-year-old, three-story garage came under scrutiny following a Day column critical of the condition of the garage and also the city building department’s discovery that contracted rehabilitation work was completed without permits.

Cornish lost 30 regular customers, employees of the U.S. Post Office, a day after the column ran in the paper with what he said was an accompanying revenue loss of about $1,900 a month. A post office spokeswoman declined to discuss reasons for the move to the city-owned parking garage.

"The newspaper wrote an article without any knowledge of engineering and what I've done so far," Cornish said. "We put a lot of money into the garage, and we will continue to. It's a serviceable garage and what the market is asking for."

Building Official Kirk Kripas said the permit for previous work is now filed and he is satisfied, based on the newest report, that the garage is structurally sound.

“If the engineers felt there was any danger at all of structural failure, we would have condemned it immediately,” Kripas said. “They don’t feel as though the structure is any danger of that type of failure.”

Kripas, however, said some of the findings in the report will be discussed with Cornish and the engineer during a meeting on Thursday. The city will determine what needs to be completed immediately and a timeline to address other issues.

The report recommends immediate repairs to some of the exterior concrete beams to preserve their structural integrity because of “advanced deterioration,” and the possibility of weakened areas of the concrete “falling on vehicle or person.”

The report also outlines fair or poor conditions throughout the structure with chipped, eroded or cracked concrete and surface rust or pitting on exposed steel. It appears Cornish has addressed some of the issues with the installation of permanent shoring and the injection of epoxy into tension and shear cracks in the concrete.

“The remaining deterioration observed does not currently present a structural issue; however, without repair and regular maintenance the deterioration will continue and may eventually degrade the load carrying capacity of the primary structure,” according to the report.

The engineer recommends a repair and maintenance plan to address weather-related damage.

“We’re going to ensure he follows the engineer’s required repairs, and we will follow up to ensure they’re done to specifications,” Kripas said.

There are also “basic maintenance-type issues,” to be addressed such as deterioration of hand rails, stairs, curbs and concrete floors of the garage.

Cornish bought the garage from the city for $206,000 in 2006, five years after the city commissioned a report by Desman Associates that recommended a multimillion-dollar investment in repairs and maintenance.

Cornish said he has invested more than $150,000 in the garage. The last major renovation projects came with the replacement of wooden beams with steel and conversion into all LED lighting.

g.smith@theday.com