Council could add 36 parking stalls ahead of museum move
Published 10:14 am Tuesday, May 20, 2014
The city of Austin could add up to 36 parking stalls over the next year or so to help accommodate more visitors to the downtown area.
City staff presented a plan to the Austin City Council Monday to swap 19 parking stalls on the east side of the downtown area with Mower County, as well as add 36 stalls from the so-called old library parking lot at First Street and Second Avenue Northwest. The plan is part of city efforts to help the downtown area accommodate the Spam Museum, which will move downtown in 2016.
Public Works Director Steven Lang said the city is proposing to switch 19 parking stalls from the city-owned lot on the west side of First Street Northeast between Third and Fourth Avenues (next to the B&J Bar & Grill) with the county-owned parking lot directly south of that location.
The switch would allow the city to use those parking lot stalls for RVs and campers, Lang said.
The city could also rebuild Third Avenue Northeast from Main Street to First Street Northeast to help improve traffic flow. Lang said the road could be a one-way designed to move traffic west to Main Street. That road could also help with bus parking as well.
The 36-stall lot on the west side of Main Street is owned by the county as part of the Jail and Justice Center project, which was completed in 2010. The city previously turned down buying the lot from the county, but Lang said the stalls could help with overflow parking. It would cost the city about $75,000 to buy the lot, Lang said.
Hormel announced last week it will build a new museum at North Main Street between Second and Fourth avenues, at the downtown fire site as well as the adjacent Plaza Bar/Ciola’s building.
Hormel will likely begin construction late this year or the beginning of next year, with a groundbreaking set in November or December. The company will use at least part of the space at the current museum to expand its corporate south office, which is next to the Spam Museum.
If all goes well, the new Spam Museum will open in the spring of 2016 in time for Hormel’s 125th anniversary.
