Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun has followed the story of the planned city parking garage since it was first proposed and provides continual coverage of re-development projects in downtown that would affect business growth.
The city of Springfield is continuing efforts to build a multi-million dollar parking garage downtown that has been halted in recent years due to lack of funding.
The city wants to construct a $9 million parking garage at the site of its current lot on the corner of Fountain Avenue and Columbia Street, said Leslie McDermott, assistant Springfield city manager. But so far, it has failed to receive the funds to pay for it from state grants.
“We need additional parking to attract new businesses and development,” she said.
The garage would add 485 new spots and would include a ground level for retail and commercial use, according to the plans. The additional parking will also offer the option for current businesses in downtown area to expand, McDermott added.
The city submitted a proposal last month to the Dayton Development Coalition asking for the project to be made a priority in the Dayton region. The group’s Priority Development and Advocacy Committee vets and ranks local economic development plans.
Since the state will not appropriate money via a capital budget this fiscal year, there is no specific funding source these requests are funneled to, according to the Dayton Development Coalition. But being ranked as a community priority can help projects win grants that become available throughout the year.
The coalition’s PDAC also keeps an eye out for funding opportunities that match local projects it has vetted.
“Having a parking garage would be a blessing for downtown,” said Jason Hague, owner of the Bada Bing Pizzeria that just opened a downtown location at 40 North Fountain Ave. two weeks ago.
“More people could come downtown, more businesses would be willing to open up down here … I could really see a good renaissance coming up real soon with a parking garage,” he said.
Customers at the restaurant have expressed concern with the parking situation for the new downtown location, he added. But so far there have not been any problems.
“Surprisingly, with all the naysayers about the parking issues, that hasn’t stopped anybody from coming in, and our lunch crowd and dinner crowd is booming,” Hague said.
So far the city has spent about $600,000 on the proposed future site of the garage.
The original goal for the project was for the city, county and state to contribute $3 million each. In the proposal to PDAC, the city cited Clark County, the State of Ohio, The Springfield Port Authority and private investors as funding sources.
The city made a $2.5 million request for the parking garage as part of the state’s capital budget this year, but received $250,000. So it has looked at other options, specifically private investors and foundations, to fund the project, McDermott said.
Vickie Williams shopped downtown Wednesday at the Fair Trade Winds shop, 36 N. Fountain Ave., and said she would love to see a new parking garage downtown as an alternative to the aging Bushnell garage on Columbia Avenue.
“The one garage we have is pretty run down and we do have a lot of uncovered parking, but I think having covered parking is more important,” she said.
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