From the ItsAllDowntown website
The new downtown College Station and Heer’s parking decks will offer free parking seven days a week for all downtown patrons effective immediately.
This creates more free weekend parking for visitors to all downtown businesses in addition to the validated parking that had already been offered by Hollywood Theaters. Under this full-time free parking, no validation will be needed at the theaters.
The City is able to offer the free parking at least until the additional build out of the College Station project is completed. The capacity in the parking decks and the two surface lots on the northeast and northwest corners of Campbell Avenue and Olive Street was designed to handle both the theater traffic and the eventual build out of College Station. A total of 975 spaces are available.
The current capacity of the parking decks and surface lots is proving to be sufficient to guarantee enough parking for theater patrons, so the City is able to add free parking on weekends as well as during the week.
For more information, contact: Louise Whall, Director of Public Information, 864-1010.
It’s nice of the City to offer this new model. While there’s some nice talk in the press release, if you pull back the curtain there are a few other considerations that have obviously played into the decision. I can personally attest to the high volume of traffic that approaches the College Station lot, sees the $5 cost posted (recently removed) and pulled a U-turn. I would guess that traffic at the Theatre’s is not meeting expectations either, despite Hollywood Theatre’s generosity in sponsoring not only the recent Xmas Parade but also the upcoming First Night celebration that had all City funding pulled. And don’t get me started on what I consider a “Wild West” attitude towards parking downtown.
My recommendation is that meters be installed in all surface lots, along all City streets from Springfield Brew Co East to Kimbrough and from 1st Baptist Church to Olive on the North. Missouri State also needs to make a commitment to getting their ever increasing student population off the streets by increasing the Bus lines serving downtown and establishing subsidized student parking in under-utilized lots such as the Garage on McDaniel across from Bank of America. Until that happens, retail establishments downtown will continue to face parking hurdles for their customers. It’s a downtown folks, let’s grow up and behave as such and quit trying to pretend that a laissez-faire approach will meet the needs of the constituents that are involved.