FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		NO PARKING ZONE City hopes $9M garage will ease parking woes The Herald News, Sunday, October 11, 2009 - Page A1 Fall River - To those anxious over the courthouse slated to open this spring - possibly unleashing a vice grip on tight downtown parking - a $9 million solution may be in the wings. The city has submitted a grant application for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to build an expandable, 400-space, four-story garage over a Third Street parking lot, adjacent to an existing parking garage. The current garage will have 100 spaces designated for daily parking when the courthouse opens, said Kenneth J. Fiola Jr., who represents the Redevelopment Authority. The garage is nearly full with mostly monthly rentals for downtown workers. The city applied for funds to build the new garage within its “economically distressed central business district,” citing the spring opening of the $85 million, 153,000 square-foot courthouse on South Main Street. The TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) funds will be distributed in February, Fiola said. Fiola, executive vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, submitted the grant on behalf of the Redevelopment Authority and the city. In all, the federal government has $1.5 billion available in supplementary transportation funding. The TIGER project needs to be designed and built in two years, by February 2012. “We feel comfortable we’d be able to complete it within that time frame,” Fiola said. The city sought - and received - letters of support from both congressional and state legislative officials. The 34,000 square-foot, city-owned parking lot holds 110 cars. The proposed garage would add an additional 290 spaces on the upper three decks, Fiola said. Of the 110 existing spaces, 18 are leased to the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority for bus transportation parking. SRTA plans to establish a permanent city terminal within the city within the next two years, Fiola said. While a new garage could be a long-term solution, the more immediate parking solutions to accommodate 200 employees and 400 estimated daily visitors from the Superior and District Court levels remain somewhat in flux. “We’re very concerned about where we’re going to park,” said Peter Andrade, Superior Court assistant clerk magistrate. During the past few weeks, Andrade, who’s overseen the Fall River Superior Court for a decade, Andrade and Assistant Clerk Magistrate Philip Leddy walked the downtown area near the courthouse in search non-metered parking spots. The only non-metered spaces they found near the South Main Street courthouse were about a half-mile away near St. Anne’s Hospital and near the Plymouth Avenue Stop & Shop, Andrade said. At the North Main Street courthouse that’s being transferred to the new site, Andrade said there are roughly 50 off-street spaces - enough for all staff members with 15 left for the general public. “We’re waiting to hear when the courthouse is going to be available, and if anything is going to be done for parking,” he said. At the nearby 45 Rock St. District Court, Clerk Magistrate Ronald Valcourt said, “Of course it’s going to be a crunch.” He said only a few spaces will be available on site for judges, clerks and chief probation officials. State Division of Asset Management spokesman Kevin Flanigan confirmed that 15 “secure spaces” will be reserved for those officials. DCAM is responsible for citing and building the courthouse, which began in 2007. Although several months behind schedule, the project is roughly 85 percent complete, he said. “March 2010 is our target, and it looks pretty good that we’re going to reach that,” Flanigan said. About parking, he said, “I know it’s a concern and I know it’s been discussed. It’s just not in the scope of the project to address parking.” Fiola said the Redevelopment Authority, which owns three parking structures in the immediate area, is targeting that date to be prepared for additional parking needs. At that time, 100 spaces in the 414-space Third Street garage will be set aside for daily parking. When the courthouse opens, those spaces will be available for $3 an hour or $21 a day. Downtown workers mostly pay monthly rates in the $41-48 range. The Redevelopment Authority has control over a total of 934 spaces, with 410 spaces at the Pearl Street garage and the 110 flat spaces. Another nearby area that’s long provided parking for downtown workers has been the Cathedral of St. Mary’s lot at the former school on Second Street. The Diocese has set aside 80 of those 110 spaces for monthly parking, which is at capacity and has a waiting list, spokesman John Kearns said. With the allocated transient spaces in the RA’s garage and available on-street parking, Fiola said, “We think there will be enough spaces to accommodate the needs of the courthouse.” He based that on a walk of several blocks, which he said “would generate foot traffic” as well as economic benefits. In that vein, the city — in the TIGER application for a new parking garage — says the new courthouse could generate $1 million in private sector investment and create 200 jobs from “re-occupation of existing office, retail and commercial space that is currently vacant due to the lack of off-street parking that is close and affordable.” As far as when the courthouse will actually be functionally operational and staffed, that juncture remains a bit elusive. “A move-in date has not yet been established,” said a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Trial Court headed by Chief Justice Robert A. Mulligan. “It usually occurs within a few weeks of building completion to allow thorough testing of operating systems and the granting of a certificate of occupancy.” The trial court spokesperson reported that “there are public parking options within blocks of the building.” Back