Leaks In Hinsdale's 3-Year-Old Parking Garage?

HINSDALE, IL – Leaks have been reported in Hinsdale's 3-year-old downtown parking garage, with one resident saying it involves a "sticky" substance, according to village documents.

Patch filed a public records request about the issue. That yielded emails indicating residents' concerns.

It is unclear whether the problem is continuing. Village Manager Kathleen Gargano and Assistant Village Manager Andrianna Peterson did not return an emailed message for comment last week.

One of the village's records was an email from a resident to Gargano in July. The resident said the dripping had been occurring for quite a while and the belief was that it had been fixed.

"I wanted to share some pictures of my car that I've parked in the 'new' garage," the resident said. "The top of my minivan was affected on June 21st. It had been dry for quite a while, so I'm not sure where the water was coming from."

The resident said most of the many stains had been removed. In the records, residents' names were blacked out.

"Hopefully, whatever is going on can be resolved before the real rainy/snow season sets in," the resident said.

In June, a village employee emailed her supervisor that she received a call from a resident reporting dripping from the ceiling in the parking garage. It was reported to be getting all over the parked cars.

Three months earlier, the village received an email from a resident who asked whether the village had taken any action to fix the problem since the resident's email a month before.

"I unfortunately have parked there a few times since," the resident said. "I had my car washed at Fuller's (Car Wash) today, and stains from the parking garage leaks are still visible in several places. As I stated before, the stains are very hard to remove."

When it rains, the resident said, leaks are seen in a lot of places on the garage's lower level.

"If it were just water, it wouldn't be so bad, but the wet substance that drips down is sort of sticky and difficult to remove from cars," the resident said.

The village has known about the leaks at least since September 2020, a couple of months after the garage opened.

That month, a resident emailed a village official that the garage had sprung a leak.

In response, the official, Rob McGinnis, said the village was aware of it and that the garage's contractor, Chicago-based Wight & Company, would take care of it.

The village's 319-space, two-level garage cost more than $9 million, according to a village news release in 2020.

The garage can be accessed off of Garfield Street, just south of First Street.