Garage improvements boost downtown parking

Davis Property Management LLC invested $175,000 for a four-month improvement project on the 42-year-old Park Central Parking Garage, 302 E. McDaniel St.

Kim Harrington, owner/member with Davis Property Management, said she's wanted to renovate the 358-space, four-story downtown structure for years because it had low occupancy and an unfounded reputation as being unsafe, especially for women.

However, she said, a new paint job inside and out, added security doors, 32 digital security cameras in addition to 16 existing cameras, stationed guards from Midwest Security during peak-use nights and $45,000 in new lighting, among other improvements, should ease fears.

Work began Sept. 1 and finished Jan. 6.

“We've (heard) nothing but good things,” she said of the renovations.

Harrington said the garage should now reach 70 percent daily occupancy, up from 30 percent before the work began.

Twenty-seven spaces on the garage's lower level were established as secured parking when Davis Property Management bought the structure in 1999. Harrington said the renovations also converted 114 spaces on the third and fourth stories to secured parking.

She said all but one of the lower-level secured spots are leased on a monthly basis. More than 30 businesses lease space at the garage.

Urban Districts Alliance Director Rusty Worley said the revamped garage is a great fit for downtown and should be used by South Avenue and Walnut Street dining and entertainment patrons.

“(The garage has) always been operational, but this renovation really improves the customers' confidence in using those spaces,” Worley said. “We're really excited about it.”

Harrington said Springfieldians are disinclined to pay for parking, another factor that hurt garage occupancy rates in the past.

“They want to park at the front door,” she said.

However, Worley said that aversion is melting away, citing the use of the 977-space Jordan Valley Car Park adjacent from Jordan Valley Park and Hammons Field.

“As Springfield's downtown continues to mature and develop I think people are having a greater acceptance of (paying for parking),” Worley said.

The renovations to the Park Central Parking Garage precede a huge infusion of downtown parking. Construction is slated to begin in March on decks adjoining College Station and Heer's Tower.

The $17 million College Station retail and entertainment project at Campbell Avenue and College Street should bring a $7 million, 417-space, three-story structure on line by December, according to city traffic engineer Jason Haynes.

Original plans had the College Station garage at 450 spaces, but Haynes said the plans were scaled back in the development phase because the 417-space design made the most efficient use of space and money.

Renovation plans for Heer's Tower on the square include a $6.5 million, 547-space, six-story deck due for completion in January 2007.

Haynes said the city would try to hold a downtown parking study this year to determine if those additions are enough.

UDA's Worley said there is plenty of parking available downtown, but Vern Morgan, senior city planner, said the city needs more parking and a new parking study.

“We're getting to the point where (downtown parking) is not sufficient,” Morgan said.

He said the last study was in 1998, and it determined that downtown had enough parking - more than 5,000 spaces at that time.

Downtown has since added 75 businesses, Morgan said.

Haynes said parking studies cost $115,000, which precluded the city from conducting the study earlier. However, Haynes believes the city can tap into state funds for this year's study.

“We want to make sure we're building the right number of spaces downtown (and) make sure the market's right,” he said.

Pay to Park

The cost to park at the Park Central Parking Garage on East McDaniel in downtown Springfield has increased due to facility and security improvements. The previous cost is in parentheses.

$4 - Daily unsecured parking ($2)

$40 - Unsecured open parking monthly lease ($30)

$50 - Upper-level secured parking monthly lease (new)

$60 - Lower-level secured parking monthly lease ($50)