GASTONIA Shortly after Gastonia's $10 million conference center opened in November, some dancers felt a vibration as they glided along the second floor ballroom.

An independent engineering firm hired by the city determined the vibration wasn't a safety issue and could be fixed. But the same report raised potential safety concerns about a suspended ceiling, exterior walls and masonry work.

The design company that did the original work disagreed with those findings, insisting the center was safe and that closing it was unnecessary.

But Gastonia leaders aren't taking any chances. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, city staff recommended that all events be canceled at the center until engineers can find solutions.

"We've got two different opinions, 180 degrees apart," said City Council member David Kirlin. "We don't know which one is real, but we want to err on the side of caution. This is terrible. It's a travesty. But we'd rather have the bump in the road now and work through it. We're taking the high road."

The Wilderman Group, a Charleston-based firm that manages the center for the city, immediately canceled an event for food vendors for today and two other events on Saturday.

Company President Kristin Kurie said the firm was working to find alternate venues, locally if possible. Since the center opened, about 12 events have been held there.

The city apologized for any inconvenience from the decision to suspend future events.

Center key to downtown

The 30,000-square-foot, two-story conference center has been seen by many as the jewel of downtown revitalization, a center for community gatherings or trade shows and, possibly, Democratic Convention events.

An environmentally friendly building with built-in projection units and big flat-screen televisions, the center was financed with limited obligation bonds that will be repaid with a hotel occupancy tax. For several years, the city has been collecting the tax, which can be used only for tourism-related projects such as the conference center.

According to a city spokeswoman, the center came in on budget and within a few weeks of meeting its 13-month target construction date. Still, some have criticized the center, including newly elected mayor John Bridgeman, who questioned the wisdom of starting such a project in a tough economy.

Now he feels the city should hire a third engineering firm to assess the safety issues. "Somebody who doesn't have a dog in this fight," Bridgeman said. "Let's get to the bottom of this."

The costs of fixing the problems "may be nominal or they may be huge," he said. "Who's responsible? That's a big unknown right now."

Melissa Magree, assistant city attorney, said the "big issue now is what exactly is wrong and how to fix it and to open back up as soon as possible."

Engineering reports differ

After the city got word about the ballroom floor vibrating, WGPM Inc., the Charlotte-based structural engineers who did the original design, reviewed the issue.

Meanwhile, the city hired an independent firm, Ferguson Structural Engineering of Gastonia.

WGPM has been involved with numerous projects around the region, including the UNC Charlotte baseball stadium, Castle Heights Middle School in Rock Hill and the Davidson College Chambers Auditorium renovation.

According to Gastonia city spokeswoman Rachel Bagley, both WGPM and Ferguson have agreed there are ways to reduce or eliminate the vibration and that there are no safety concerns on that matter.

But they disagree on other findings.

In a statement released Wednesday, Bagley said the Ferguson report did have concerns that could potentially impact safety, including:

The support of the suspended ceiling in the drive-through area on the first floor. There is a lack of lateral force transfer, the report stated, and additional supports should be installed as quickly as possible.

The height of the exterior masonry work. Masonry veneer at the perimeter of the building needs additional bracing, the report said.

The way exterior walls are connected, especially during extremely windy conditions. Bracing or some kind of remedial action will be required, the report stated.

"On the other hand, the design engineer continues to assure us that the building is safe for occupancy and events of all types," Bagley said. "Because we don't have complete agreement on what, if any, safety concerns there are, we are, in an abundance of caution, recommending to the Wilderman Group ... to suspend further events until further notice, until we have more definitive information about any potential safety concerns."

Bagley said that the independent engineer's report said the issues violate code requirements, although specific codes weren't identified. But she said the design engineer hadn't studied the report in detail. The city expects a detailed response in a few days, she said.

City Council member Todd Pierceall said the city "wants the facts out there but, unfortunately, all the facts haven't been received."

He said the city wants to find out as quickly as possible what, if any, repairs are necessary.

"We don't want to see the reputation of the building damaged," Pierceall said. "But we want the public to have a safe place to use. We want a safe building and a source of pride to the city."