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The City Council reviewed initial concepts for a combined downtown library and parking structure Tuesday evening. By a 5-1 vote they gave the go-ahead for further planning. This project addresses two obvious infrastructure needs – more downtown parking and the conversion of our 1960s downtown library into a 21st century facility. Perhaps the most attractive features of this project are that it is, for practical purposes, already funded and that combining the library and parking structures substantially reduces the cost compared to their development as two independent structures. June’s successful Measure S library initiative provides sufficient funds for the first floor library, proposed for most of the ground level of what is today the parking lot on Cedar between Lincoln and Cathcart. Five stories of parking (including the uncovered top of the building) would be located above the library. The cost of the overall structure is estimated at between $59 and $68 million. The ground floor library ($23-27M) would provide new emphasis to areas dedicated to different user groups with an emphasis on collaborative activities and access to digital materials. Meeting rooms would be more accessible and could be made available during hours the library was not open. The garage as proposed ($33-$37M) would replace all of the parking in the existing surface lots on the site, the lot across the street leased from the Calvary Church, and three smaller lots on Front Street that are expected to be developed in the next few years; combined these constitute 257 parking spaces. In addition the project would add 375 parking spaces to the total inventory. The structure as considered would also accommodate second and third floor office spaces on the portion of the property that is somewhat wider -- west-facing at the south end of the block ($3-4M) (labeled MTG RMs and OFFICES in the drawing above.) These might be used for library administration or leased. The alleyway behind the University Town Center and Logos Books would be preserved as would the TOADAL Fitness building. Even this structure, by itself, is insufficient to address current parking needs with nearly 1,000 pending requests for downtown parking permits and current structures parked at capacity. In the absence of this investment, parking will increasingly become a constraint on both downtown housing and commercial development as well as a damper on area’s vitality as a retail center. There are issues yet to be address. The popular Downtown Farmers Market will need to be relocated. The City is considering the development of a more permanent location that would include some infrastructure – a roof, restrooms, and storage facilities – to facilitate not only the Wednesday evenings’ market but also the periodic Sunday Antique Faire and other public and contractual uses. The principal resistance to the project came from groups opposing construction of additional parking facilities, urging the Council Tuesday evening to emphasis bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access to the downtown. The Chamber continues to this and other investment in the development of City’s downtown.