Little Rock officials are looking for parking spaces in the city’s River Market District - a search familiar to River Market patrons who often circle the district for spots during peak hours.
So, the city and the Central Arkansas Library System are considering a joint effort to build a 400-space parking garage on top of an existing surface parking lot between Cumberland Street and the First Security Amphitheatre, near Riverfront Park. The proposal hasn’t been finalized, city and library officials said.
“It’s more in a conceptual stage at this point,” said City Manager Bruce Moore.“We know there’s a need for parking, but the discussion is revolving around how we plan for not only that current need but future needs in the River Market as we continue to grow that area. The biggest issue is how we are going to pay for a parking structure wherever we decide to plan for it.”
The need for parking has increased as the River Market District has continued to develop with new restaurants, a movie theater being built by the library system, and dozens of other attractions and events added every year.
City officials had planned to build more levels on top of the city’s parking garage on Second and Main streets to add parking for the Statehouse Convention Center and for River Market District visitors, but an engineering problem left the structure unable to support more floors without major architectural work such as external braces.
Moore said he found out about a month ago that building that garage up wouldn’t be possible and the discussion began about what else could be done to create more parking in the burgeoning district.
“We haven’t really even begun to talk about the financing portion, but having CALS [Central Arkansas Library System] as a partner would definitely help the overall financial strategy,” he said. “We haven’t really talked about how our numbers and funding would come together, though.”
The Central Arkansas Library System has been trying to develop plans to build a parking garage across from its main branch on Rock Street in the River Market District. The library system refinanced some bonds and got a voter-approved millage extension to help with several projects, including the parking garage plan.
“It keeps getting more and more difficult and more and more expensive to construct our garage on Rock Street,” said Bobby Roberts, the executive director of the library system. “Right now the discussion has been about that area along Water Street, the little way that goes behind the River Market. It’s being used as surface parking now, which in an area like the River Market is an inefficient use of spaces.”
Roberts said that because the cost per parking space decreases with the size of the garage, the joint effort could save the library about $1 million. That savings alsoinclude not having to move utility lines and some other issues that have contributed to making the parking garage on Rock Street a difficult venture, he said.
Roberts also said the joint venture, which would likely be a financial split based on dedicated spaces for each entity, could be designed to include small retail spaces that could face the Arkansas River and create community gathering spaces near the park, but those ideas have not been solidified.
Despite the preliminary stage of the idea, opposition began to form Wednesday with a Facebook group named “Save Riverfront Park.” The page was posted by an anonymous user, who wrote, “Currently, plans are in the works to turn much of [the park] into a Parking Garage. This will cause more traffic along LaHarpe [Boulevard], disrupt the River Trail, and make the park congested.”
The page had more than 500 supporters as of Wednesday evening. Most of the discussion on the Facebook page Wednesday focused on wanting more details about the proposal.
Moore said he had not seen the page, but he said the information described in it was not correct.
“Again, this is in a very preliminary talking phase right now, but there is no plan to take any green space,” he said. “We have spent too much time and money working on the Arkansas River Trail to disrupt it. Our efforts are focusing on adding green space to the city, not taking it away. Talks have focused on building on top of existing parking - that’s it. And nothing has been decided.”
Roberts also addressed the concern of the park becoming congested.
“It’s a beautiful public amenity and as many people should enjoy it as possible,” he said.
At-Large City Director Dean Kumpuris pointed out the location of the potential garage Wednesday afternoon during a Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau jazz event in the park. Kumpuris has been pivotal in the original plans for the River Market District and in the expansion of the adjacent Riverfront Park along the Arkansas River.
He said the parking plan would not take any green space and would make the flow of traffic a lot easier than the current surface parking scheme.
“We are looking at options for now and for the future,” he said. “But at no time has the discussion included taking green space or disrupting the [Arkansas] river trail.”
No agreement has been signed between the city and library to move forward with architectural designs or financing options.
Before the plan could become reality, it would likely have to go before the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Commission, because at least a portion of the parking is technically parkland. It also may have to go before the River Market Design Review Committee, the Planning Commission and the Little Rock Board of Directors for approval.
“None of that has happened,” Moore said. “And we’re not at a point where we are ready or even considering those steps.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/20/2013