The Rio Grande Garage roof is leaking, which will compromise the garage structure if left unchecked. Galena Plaza must be removed in order to repair the leak. The City is initiating a public process to help determine what the new plaza design will be over the garage roof and is holding its first public meeting on the topic this month.
The open house-style meeting will be on Thursday, May 20, where attendees can share their vision for the plaza. Participants can drop by the Rio Grande Meeting Room (next to Galena Plaza) any time between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. or between 5 and 7 p.m. and are welcome to stay for just a few minutes or the entire time.
Food and beverages will be served.
Here are a few facts about the project:
• The Galena Plaza is actually the green roof to the parking garage, and is unlike a typical roof where leaks can be more easily identified. In order to fix the problem, everything must be removed from the top of the garage structure – the soil & plants, the plaza paving, all of that – and replace the membrane.
• The parking garage roof must be replaced due to leakage in the waterproofing membrane. If the repairs are not done, the roof will experience continued deterioration, potentially causing a partial structural failure, resulting in a much more expensive problem.
• The City of Aspen will use in-house staff to lead the design to improve Galena Plaza and replace the waterproofing membrane. Staff will rely heavily on public input. Staff has already met with many stakeholders in the area and will be holding a series of meetings throughout the summer.
• There will be no buildings associated with the project, other than perhaps a replacement of the elevator/stairwell building connecting the garage to the plaza. The project will adhere to the Civic Master Plan, adopted by Aspen City Council in December of 2006.