2 Lincoln Ave. in Rockville Centre under repair
Two weeks after evacuation, tenants and clients wait
“It was like being in a car accident,” said Sue Balfe, the executive practice administrator for Hatsis Laser Vision.
Balfe was describing the events of Nov. 23 at 2 Lincoln Ave., when the office building was evacuated and closed after Rockville Centre Building Department officials discovered that it was unsafe and uninhabitable. A major support column in the building’s parking garage had been damaged that afternoon, compromising four other columns and resulting in a major repair and cleanup that continued this week.
When the evacuation was ordered, Balfe and her staff, whose office is on the building’s fourth floor, weren’t the only ones affected: Their patients were, too. “Six patients were waiting for laser correction surgery when we were told to leave,” Balfe said. “One patient was actually on the operating table at the time we were told to evacuate.”
Because of the building’s major structural damage, its occupants — employees, patients and customers — have migrated to various temporary offices elsewhere in the village and throughout Nassau County.
Hatsis Laser Vision — one of several medical offices in the building — relocated 13 staff members to a satellite office on Long Beach Road in Oceanside. Asked how the move has gone so far for patients adjusting to a new location, Balfe described it as “a nightmare.” Some patients, she said, are unaware of the Oceanside office. Also, the more advanced medical equipment that is used in laser eye surgery is idle in the main office.
Balfe said she is waiting to find out how long repairs will take before she decides whether to look for additional office space in or near Rockville Centre. She also said that representatives of the company that owns the building, Orkat Realty, told her it could be soon.
On Monday, however, a village spokesman said that it would likely be weeks before tenants could return to the building. The damaged support column is being shored up, and inspections of the four additional compromised columns are being coordinated by Building Department engineers in consultation with engineers from H2M, a firm in Melville that contracts with the village.
