First came the Parker Harding Plaza redesign. Merchants and shoppers howled at the loss of 44 parking spaces.
Then came the solution: adding those spots at Jesup Green. Residents howled at the loss of several century-old trees.
This week, the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee will unveil its latest concept: a 3-story parking deck, covering virtually all of Parker Harding Plaza.
“I’m not sure why this hasn’t been proposed before,” says DPIC chair Randy Herbertson.
“The Baldwin lot (behind Brooks Corner) was considered for decking, but it was renovated last year without a structure.
The latest proposal: a 3-story parking structure for Parker Harding.
“Parker Harding is probably a better site. It’s even closer to Main Street. There are entrances and exits at both ends.
“And we not only won’t lose river views — we’ll gain them, by putting a park on top of the parking garage. There will be walkways, benches, trees and flowers. People could even fish from there.”
The park would cover the entire area of the parking structure.
Herbertson says that although some spaces would be lost on the lowest level due to reconfiguration to meet federal Department of Transportation and Americans with Disabilities Act standards, the entire 3-story parking lot would have “650 to 750” parking spots.
That would be enough to solve the entire downtown problem, he says — without removing a single tree from Jesup Green.
Click here to see architectural renderings of the plan.