Potential West Street Parking Garage at Earliest Stages of Thought Process in Gardner MA
In order to have an eventual successful project, there must be an initial idea conceived sometimes years before. Such is the story with the potential West Street Parking Garage. There are 3 types of layouts in the process. 1. Conceptual (really just a potential idea) 2. Preliminary (with plans) 3. Design Development (lots of work). The City of Gardner had Tighe and Bond come up with a a few Concepts for a parking garage.
The Ledge
Because the West Street Parking lot is built on a ledge, it is projected it would cost about $500,000 just to deal with excavation. Heywood Hospital found this out when it excavated a ledge at the site of its new Surgical Pavilion and removing the rock cost much more than planned. So this cost could vary considerably and would be better estimated if the project would go to a preliminary stage.
The Garage
It could be as much as a 4 level structure and hold anywhere from 124 to 138 vehicles depending on design. There would be provisions for electric charging stations. Total cost is projected at somewhere around $5,000,000.
Who Would Pay For It?
The City of Gardner is very carefully eyeing the possibility of grants for many of its projects. The recent CDBG grant of over $1.6 million dollars is covering 92% of the cost of those endeavors. So if there’s a grant out there to fund this idea, it will happen much sooner. Gardner is replacing its main water line with a million dollar grant. A multi-million dollar grant is funding the new runway at the Gardner Airport. And in addition to what the Department of Development and Planning can do, the City Council at the request of Mayor Nicholson is investing up to $60,000 in a 3rd party grant writer – potential payoff is in the millions for Gardner.
Why Would You Want It?
Simple. A need for parking for a number of reasons. 1. Storefronts in Downtown Gardner are being filled which will eventually result in more need for parking. 2. A large number of housing units are being completed in Downtown Gardner which adds to the need. 3. People have asked for more parking in the past.
When?
As this is currently just a potential idea, no specific time frame can really be pinned down at this time.