Groundbreaking planned for new downtown Flint parking ramp

By Jill Blondin | The Flint Journal
August 6, 2008

FLINT, Michigan -- The next big construction project in downtown Flint is officially getting started Thursday.

A groundbreaking for the new four-deck parking ramp is set for 9 a.m. Thursday -- another step in what downtown planners hope will be part of turning the business district in to a thriving sector.

The 388-space ramp -- at West Kearsley and Beach streets -- was designed by THA Architects of Flint and is scheduled to be completed in June. It includes a glass stairway and electronic surveillance.

It will be named after James Rutherford, the Downtown Development Authority director, two time Flint mayor and former police chief.

"The new parking ramp is needed to accommodate all of the growth happening in the downtown area," Rutherford said. "Everyone is optimistic about downtown's rejuvenation."

The Community Foundation of Flint and Wade Trim recently moved into their new downtown offices, bringing 41 employees with them.

Rowe Inc. hopes to move into its new office on South Saginaw Street early next year, adding about 100 more workers, said Thomas C. Long, a vice president of the civil engineering firm. Plus there are the soon-to-open University of Michigan-Flint dormitories, downtown apartments and other special events planned.

Monthly parking permits will be issued for office workers, who are expected to be the primary users of the new parking facility.

Paul's Pipe Shop is just one of the downtown business establishments looking forward to completion of the new parking ramp.

"We need it," said Jan Caudle, the owner's daughter. "Our customers can never find a parking space on the street. We need more (ramp) parking for the people who work down here all day."

The project is one of several the DDA is heading up. It also recently installed a new digital sign in the surface parking lot at the corner of Kearsley and Saginaw streets and it plans to finish in September a $1 million upgrade a 500-space parking structure near the river front.

All the projects will be funded with up to $10 million in bonds that will be repaid in part by using the DDA's tax increment financing authority.

The Flint City Council has been asked to approve an ordinance that would allow the DDA to enforce downtown parking violations, and divert the proceeds from parking tickets to help pay for the new parking ramp, Rutherford said. DDA officials are hoping for action on that within the next 60 days.

Business owners, who fear parking tickets will drive off customers, fought a previous effort to let DDA enforce downtown parking restrictions. A compromise plan would allow two-hour parking in the downtown enforcement district and three hours in certain zones around courthouses and government buildings. The fee for parking tickets would be reduced from $25 to $15, then return to $25 in 2010.

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