ATLANTA — A lawyer representing a business in Piedmont Park is alleging that a 2018 sinkhole was never fully repaired, and he's sounding the alarm before thousands head to the area during Music Midtown this weekend.
According to Simon Bloom of Bloom Parham, LLP and his client, David Duley of Be Our Guest Investments, LLC, owners of the Nook in Piedmont Park, the company responsible for the cleanup, Piedmont Park Conservancy, Inc. (PPC), "was not truthful regarding the investigation and remediation of a massive sinkhole."
Attorneys stated that the conservancy never got a geo-technical engineer involved to state that the site was safe, and added that many other emails between them show problems with the construction. And now, the legal team says cracks are beginning to show in the ground at restaurants around the area.
The two stated that there are unresolved safety issues that could be dangerous to guests attending the Music Midtown festival, citing that the sinkhole "was never scientifically investigated by a geotechnical engineer and ultimately improperly filled."
11Alive received the following statement from PPC Tuesday afternoon:
Piedmont Park Conservancy is committed to providing a safe experience for visitors to Piedmont Park, while ensuring a clean, green and accessible park for all. Any claims of unresolved structural concerns to the Piedmont Park Community Center building are simply unfounded and untrue.
The timing of the recent press conference by a lawyer representing a former tenant in a lawsuit against the Conservancy is clearly opportunistic in its effort to resurface concerns around a routine repair that took place nearly five years ago. Since the repair was successfully completed, not only has a prominent structural engineer deemed the repair proper and the structure sound, but two national restaurant brands with full knowledge of the situation have successfully and safely operated within the building. We look forward to sharing all information in upcoming litigation and are confident that Piedmont Park Conservancy will prevail in this landlord-tenant dispute.
Piedmont Park Conservancy would like to assure all Music Midtown attendees that these claims and concerns are inaccurate, and we look forward to hosting the iconic music festival again this weekend.
Watch the conference in the players above and below this story.