No one, local or nonlocal, wants to walk four to six or more blocks to work, shop, dine, stroll the river or much else, when they are above 6,500 fee and in hot, cold or even “Durango perfect” weather. Notwithstanding there might be unused metered spaces available in the city. Somewhere. But inconvenient to everything.
In the past, the idea of a downtown parking structure has been broached. Let’s broach it again, shall we? Here are two in-town locations to consider. Location one: The underutilized main Post Office on West 8th Street. Remove the existing structure and build a parking structure in its place, abutting the Transit Center property.
Location two: The vacant property behind the Strater Hotel (two lots); one owned by Strater LLC; one owned by the United States Postal Service. If the owners contributed their respective land interests and the city built the structure (with revenue sharing, built-in buy-outs, shared use or some other rationale to provide fair compensation for all), it might work.
For either location, envision minimally a four-level parking facility (with parking meters and electric car chargers throughout), that is not really four-stories high. The first level could be half underground with open sides above ground. The fourth level could be open – no roof. The outward appearance would be that of a three-story building.
Forget Next Step. Sunset Magazine is not the one to please. We are. locals and nonlocals alike. Durango councillors need to park it, now! Tell ‘em.
Dennis Berkey
Hermosa
