Council Picks Parking Deck Site

The Fayetteville City Council reviewed three locations for a downtown parking deck Tuesday. Mayor Lioneld Jordan, city staff and a team of hired consultants recommended locating the parking deck on the southeast corner of the Walton Arts Center property, at Spring Street and School Avenue.
The Fayetteville City Council reviewed three locations for a downtown parking deck Tuesday. Mayor Lioneld Jordan, city staff and a team of hired consultants recommended locating the parking deck on the southeast corner of the Walton Arts Center property, at Spring Street and School Avenue.

— City Council members on Tuesday selected a spot on the southeast corner of the Walton Arts Center grounds as the best location for a three-story, 246-space parking deck.

Aldermen chose the location — at Spring Street and School Avenue — from three options Mayor Lioneld Jordan presented.

At A Glance

Council Action

Fayetteville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

-Mayor Lioneld Jordan's $134.9 million budget plan for 2013. The budget represents a $13.6 million — or 11.2 percent — increase from 2012.

-Providing wholesale sewer service to West Fork.

-Rezoning 2.75 acres south of West Center Street — between Harmon and Hill avenues. According to recent correspondence with the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department, Springdale-based Specialized Real Estate Group plans to build a 94-unit, 345-bedroom apartment complex and 310-space parking deck.

-Unfreezing salaries for the city's three elected officials who earn more than $80,000 per year.

Source: Staff Report

The theater site wouldn’t require permanently removing paid parking spaces, from which revenue is being used to finance the deck project.

Geotechnical borings indicated the soil on the site is more stable and would better support a deck than soil on the main parking lot west of the Walton Arts Center. Several aldermen said building a parking deck on the main arts center lot would limit the use of that land for festivals or development.

Unlike a paid parking lot east of the arts center and south of Kingfish bar, the theater site will not require purchasing or condemning private property, and the deck will not be built right up against homes.

A 246-space parking deck offers the fewest number of parking spaces of the three options presented, however. And building there will require tearing down and rebuilding the arts center's administrative offices.

“It has a huge disruption on the administrative staff (of the arts center),” said Ron Petrie, senior project manager with Garver engineers.

But, he added, “If you look at the effect on patrons to this facility and also to Dickson Street, it's really the one site that has the least disruption.”

As an assurance the parking deck will not interfere with an arts center renovation, City Council members included several items Tuesday in the resolution they approved, 8-0.

City Council members said they are willing to pay to replace the center's administrative offices, excavate an area where the center’s new backstage space is to be built and construct a shell building for the new backstage area. The structure that would house the backstage space and administrative offices is expected to fit within the footprint of the parking deck, according to conceptual drawings presented Tuesday.

The City Council also agreed to reserve 35 free parking spaces in the deck or across School Avenue from the deck to replace 28 arts center parking spaces lost when administrative offices are demolished. And aldermen agreed to pay reasonable rent and moving expenses associated with arts center administrators having to find a temporary home.

City officials said they didn’t have a estimate for how much those assurances would cost, but, Paul Becker, city finance director, said he was confident they could be paid for using parking fund revenue and without requiring any additional commitment from taxpayers.

Contracts for rent payments or moving expenses will have to come back to the City Council for approval, said Kit Williams, city attorney.

The arts center unveiled plans earlier this year for an estimated $20 million renovation, which will include a new backstage space, an expanded Starr Theater and a new lobby.

Terri Trotter, arts center chief operating officer, said Tuesday that, while the parking deck site causes some complications from the center’s perspective, the Walton Arts Center for years has expressed the need for more parking.

“We can make this work,” Trotter said. “We can make this work together. It can be a really exciting opportunity for downtown.”

Jordan said Tuesday he intended to issue about $6.2 million in bonds to finance the deck project today. The bonds are set to be repaid using fees and fines associated with the paid parking program.

“This has been a long time coming, and after tomorrow, we're going to be in,” Jordan said Tuesday.

Construction on the parking deck is expected to begin in May or June and take 12 to 18 months.

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