Little has changed in the status of the Galleria parking ramp as insurance companies continue to square off over responsibility for damages that closed the ramp the first week in September.

The Bismarck Parking Authority met Thursday, but there was little to report on what progress is being made on eventual repair to the parking ramp. The structural integrity of the top level was compromised when the attempted removal of a concrete planter resulted in support tendons in the deck being severed.

The Galleria's top three levels remain closed, while the bottom four are open for business. Those with parking contracts with the ramp have been provided space in the authority's other ramps, the Parkade and Third Street. But there is still the loss of daily and hourly parking.

Capital City Construction is the main contractor for the planter removal project. But it was a subcontractor, Edsons Concrete, specializing in cutting of concrete, that did the damage as it removed a portion of the deck. There is a dispute over which company is actually at fault.

"There has been an exchange of letters between the two insurance companies, trying to establish who will take responsibility," said Rocky Gordon, who manages the downtown ramps for the authority. "I take that as progress, but nothing has been resolved yet."

"If neither accepts full or partial responsibility, what are we going to do?" authority member Jim Christianson asked. "We can't not fix it, but someone has to pay for it."

Gordon recommended that the authority go ahead with the structural repairs, with the intent that it will collect the damages at some point.

Authority chairman Ray Grabar said that it wasn't really a decision to be made by the authority, but rather by the Bismarck City Commission. The issue will be on the city commission's meeting agenda for Tuesday, at which time Gordon will make the authority's recommendation to go ahead with fixing the Galleria.

About $14,700 has been spent on the Galleria to date, with estimates of between $130,000 and $150,000 to fix the damage.

"It could sit until spring the way it is," Gordon said. "We've lost half of our capacity, though we've been able to move the parking tenants to other ramps. It's still not good."

There was some good news for the authority, as Gordon reported that the removal of the concrete planters was nearly complete.

"Actually, they've done a very good job in removing the planters," Grabar said.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)