SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A review by the Stateman-Journal newspaper in Salem has found that early concerns about Marion County’s Courthouse Square went unheeded.
The five-story building and bus-mall complex was built in 2000 for $34 million. Last year engineers determined the building was unsafe because of weak concrete and a defective design, and it’s been evacuated ever since.
A three-month review of the project by the Statesman Journal (http://bit.ly/nsW1pT ) found that while bad engineering was the main culprit, there was also a breakdown in the project’s organization and safeguards intended to prevent poor workmanship.
For example, a Portland firm hired as the project manager, Melvin Mark Development Co., raised concerns in 2000 about cracks that appeared at the tops of columns during construction of Courthouse Square in 2000. The firm represented getting a second opinion about the cracks from an engineering company — but Marion County and transit district officials never followed through. Instead, they took the word of the structural engineer who designed the building. He said the cracks were just cosmetic.
