County aiming for multi-use park ramp

October 05, 2007
By Steve Gunn
Muskegon Chronicle

It's still a few years away from becoming a reality, but when the new downtown Muskegon parking ramp/bus terminal is completed, it might turn out to be a crowd-pleaser.

That's because county officials are kicking around several ideas, including offering continuous downtown trolley service so people can use the parking ramp, then be delivered to the doorstep of their destination.

They're also considering a ground-level design that will allow local bus passengers to board and depart inside the parking ramp, where it's warm and dry.

And officials say they've hooked up with an architectural firm that's designed "more than 2,000" attractive parking structures around the world. As one official put it, "We want to make it look as much as possible like a downtown office building."

One small consumer downside: Parking will not be free.

Officials don't know yet how much they will charge, and say that will depend on such factors as the operational costs of the new ramp and the rates charged by parking ramps in other cities.

Muskegon County officials have been working for the past year to establish a new downtown parking ramp on the block bordered by Second Street, Morris Avenue and Third Street. The structure will be financed largely by a $2.6 million federal grant.

Although there might be a surplus of downtown parking right now, officials say that will not be the case as the area redevelops and the vacant sites fill in with new construction. Ground already has been broken in the former Muskegon Mall parking lot for several new buildings, and more are on the way.

Officials from the Downtown Muskegon Development Corporation want a dense downtown, with a maximum number of commercial/residential structures and minimal ground-level off-street parking.

With that in mind, they first tried to convince the county to purchase and restore the old downtown parking lot at First and Clay. County officials declined, citing the age and deteriorating condition of the structure.

DMDC officials then worked with the county to secure the grant money to build the new parking ramp. They also agreed to donate the property between Second, Third and Morris for the structure.

The new structure will be built slightly closer to Second Street and Morris Avenue, while space will be left along Third Street for commercial development between the parking ramp and the street, officials said.

"People may look now and say 'the whole area looks like a parking lot,' " said Wendy Ohst, who oversees facilities management for the county. "But as the downtown fills out, there's going to be less available surface parking."

Muskegon County commissioners recently took a big step toward construction of the parking ramp by hiring Hooker/De Jong of Muskegon as the architect/engineer for the project.

Hooker/De Jong will work with Rich & Associates, a Southfield firm with "just a wealth of experience designing parking ramps," Ohst said.

By January, officials hope to have a completed environmental assessment of the construction site and a proposed design, Ohst said. The design will then go to county commissioners and federal authorities for approval.

Ohst said the project could be put out for bid early next year and construction could begin by the end of the summer, but that timetable might be too optimistic. One factor will be the amount of time federal officials take to approve the design, she said.

It's also hard to tell what the facility might look like until the design phase is finished, Ohst said. It could be as high as four stories, depending on how much of the ground level will have to be used for a Muskegon Area Transit System terminal and Greyhound ticket station.

The federal grant stipulates that the structure serve as the downtown public transit station, replacing the Herman Ivory terminal on Morris Avenue. That property eventually will be sold, with some of the proceeds being used to offset the costs of the new parking ramp, Ohst said.

The goal is to have at least 300 parking spaces available in the new ramp, and if all or most of the ground floor is used for transit, more spaces will have to go upstairs, Ohst said.

Ohst also was vague about potential project costs. She said the design will help determine whether the $2.6 million grant, plus proceeds from the Ivory terminal, will cover the cost. If not, county officials will have to decide whether to scale back plans or seek more outside grant funding.

"It's not a lot of money," Ohst said of the $2.6 million. "How far we can stretch that we don't know."

Officials are convinced the parking structure will attract enough customers to make a profit once the downtown is developed. Until then, they think they will have plenty of business because the city of Muskegon has pledged to limit the number of free parking spaces in the area available to the public.

Parking ramp profits will go to the cash-strapped MATS bus system, which has been using up its fund balance in the face of shrinking support from the state and federal governments.

© 2007 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission