More parking space is needed in downtown Eureka Springs, and the best way to get it is with a multilevel parking garage, a City Council member said Tuesday.

Alderman James DeVito envisions a five-story parking garage with an attractive facade and perhaps shops on the ground floor. One of the floors could be below ground level, he said.

It's a topic that has come up, off and on, since 1972.

But DeVito thinks a garage should be built soon because parking problems have gotten worse.

"We have an auditorium with 950 seats and no parking," DeVito told the City Council at a meeting Monday night. "You can't dismiss the No. 1 question that our visitors ask and that is 'Where do I park?' And it's a lot of frustration."

The Auditorium, which was built in 1929, underwent a $500,000 renovation a few years ago, said DeVito. Half of the funding came in 2003 through a federal Save America's Treasures grant.

DeVito told the council that at least having a plan for the parking garage would put the city in a better position to apply for grants that could become available.

Eureka Springs spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to attract people to the tourist town, DeVito said. The visitors shouldn't be provided with a "less than pleasant experience" because of parking problems, he told the council.

No vote was taken Monday night. DeVito just wanted the council members to think about the issue for now. In the meantime, studies that have been done over the years will be gathered together so they can be presented to the council.

DeVito said one problem with previous studies is that none of them looked at the best location for a parking garage, which he said is a parking lot on Main Street on the northeast side of Basin Spring Bath House, a building where outlaw Bill Doolin was arrested in 1896 that now houses shops.

The lot is one block from The Auditorium.

A pedestrian bridge on the second level of the bathhouse could be used by people who park in the garage and want to walk to Spring Street, DeVito said Tuesday.

About 60 percent of that parking lot is owned by the city, said DeVito. The rest is privately owned.

Purchasing the lot could be costly because parking lots make a lot of money, Alderman Dee Purkeypile told the council.

According to the Carroll County assessor's office, the private lot belongs to Main Street Trans Co., care of Charles and Janet Epley.

The 7,519-square-foot private lot has an estimated market value of $31,950, according to the assessor's office. That's 0.17 acre.

City-owned parking meters in Eureka Springs took in $256,972 in 2013, said Diane Wilkerson, the city's mayoral assistant. At last count, there were 139 city-owned parking meters in Eureka Springs.

The parking garage could ultimately be a good revenue source for the city, DeVito said.

The parking garage would have at least 200 spaces, which would more than double the number of city owned parking spaces downtown, he said. Parking in Eureka Springs lots normally costs $5 for four hours, but parking for shorter durations is also available in lots and at meters.

A parking garage of the size he mentioned would probably cost about $5 million to build, DeVito said.

"It can't be cheap because it can't look cheap in Eureka Springs," he said.

Bonds could be issued for construction of the garage, DeVito said. The City Advertising and Promotion Commission could guarantee the bonds, he said.

The commission is funded through a 3 percent sales tax on all prepared food, beverages and lodging in Eureka Springs. The sales tax took in about $1.22 million last year. The revenue is used to advertise and promote the city as well as attractions, businesses, festivals, meetings and events that attract visitors to Eureka Springs.

"Any bond issue would have to be guaranteed by a revenue stream," said DeVito.

Mike Maloney, executive director of the commission, said the parking garage could be feasible.

"James is probably right that the [commission] would have to take on bonded indebtedness to make something like that work," said Maloney.

Parking is a problem particularly when there are festivals or parades in Eureka Springs, Maloney said.

Last year, an average of 5,400 vehicles traveled down Main Street in Eureka Springs every day, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's traffic count.

Metro on 06/25/2014