Six Months After Parking Deck Collapse, Burlington Coat Factory's Deck Hasn't Been Fixed

Last August, the parking deck of the then-opened Burlington Coat Factory collapsed. The huge hole in the deck was fenced off, with the expectation that the deck would be repaired.

Six months later, shoppers flock to the discount clothing store. Some even park right next to the temporary fence that's still in place.

The debris has been swept away. But the parking deck still has a gaping hole where the concrete slabs once stood.

The store, once owned by Sears which operated The Great Indoors, an upscale furnishing center, there, the property is now owned and managed by Onyx Equities.

The company said that the store would open in September, and it did - a month to the day the deck collapsed.

It's still unclear exactly why caused the deck collapse. Mayor John McCormac did not answer repeated requests for information about the deck disaster. 

The basement of the deck is a short cut to Route 9, and it's still being used that way. No one was injured in the August deck collapse, but now people who drive under the deck to reach Route 9 are passing under adjacent portions of the deck, next to the section that collapsed.

The township administration had argued that the resonsibility for the deck oversight rested with the state Department of Consumer Affairs. They, in turn, said that responsibility for the deck remained with the local building department.

At this point, it's still unknown who has responsibility for the structure. No timeline was released for when the deck would be repaired, or if a plan for repairing the crashed section was in the works.

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