ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The privately owned Roanoke Station parking garage has been closed for months due to numerous Virginia state maintenance code violations.
The oldest of those violations, a broken elevator, reared its head earlier this month when a man became trapped inside of it and had to be rescued by the Roanoke Fire Department.
Notices from the city are posted at the entrance to the garage stating that the property is “unsafe for public use.”
That placard is dated June 25, 2024, but the garage has been closed even longer.
Despite a pair of cones placed in the entrance and exit lanes, the garage is still readily accessible to pedestrians and cars.
A November inspection found the site to be in violation of 14 state maintenance codes, including exposed wires, cracked cinderblock, and general uncleanliness.
Merchant Parking Company is the listed owner of the garage but Merchant Parking is in turn owned by a real estate company called C.W. Francis and Sons Inc.
According to the city, representatives and attorneys have been in contact with C.W. Francis in regard to the garage’s lack of code compliance.
City tax records indicate that more than $57,000 is owed to the city in taxes and prior delinquencies in connection to the parking deck, located at 33 Salem Avenue.
City records that tax payments for the property stopped after a payment made in June 2023 and taxes and fees have piled up since.
Despite continued attempts to locate representatives from C.W. Francis for comment, WFXR has been unable to locate a physical address or current phone number for the company.
For a time during the parking garage saga, the city had difficulty getting in touch with ownership too.
“Initially there were some issues with communication,” said Roanoke City code compliance administrator Jeffery White. “Here lately, we are communicating with the attorneys and the registered agent for the property.”
White also said that the city is starting to consider other methods of getting C.W. Francis to begin the repairs, including legal action.
“It appears that we will continue down that path to compel the owner to make the repairs that have been outlined in the notice,” he said.
The city set a December 12 deadline for those repairs to be completed.
Now that the deadline has passed, WFXR is working to find out whether the owners intend to make the fixes, whether the city will complete the repairs itself at the owner’s expense, or if a resolution will be found in court.