Medford Square Parking Garage Will Be Up to City Council

A new parking garage on Governors Avenue would have about 200 spaces, cost about $7 million and be built by around the end of next year -- if the City Council chooses to fund it with a bond, Mayor Michael McGlynn said Wednesday.

McGlynn, along with architects and construction managers, presented plans for the garage in a public hearing at City Hall Wednesday night. Medford Square has been without a garage since 2005, when the previous one on Governors Avenue collapsed.

The plans show a building with brick siding and stairwells enclosed by stylish glass structures, planners said. With four levels of parking, including a basement, the current design pegs the number of parking spaces at 206.

McGlynn estimated the project would cost anywhere from $6.8 million to $7.5 million. The city will seek grants, but the brunt of the cost would likely have to be paid with a bond, McGlynn said. If approved by the council, construction could start as early as January 2012 and would take 9 to 12 months, officials said.

The garage, along with capital improvements city-wide, will be presented to the city council in August, McGlynn said.

"At that point it will be up to the council," he said.

Revenue from the garage will potentially help pay off the bond, but the city needs to decide whether to manage the garage itself or hire an outside firm, McGlynn said.

Rates for parking there also need to be decided, he said. In order to make the rates effective, the city will have to successfully implement parking enforcement, he said.

"We are one of the last places in America where there is free parking for everybody," McGlynn said. "That obviously has to end."

But McGlynn said he doesn't intend to make parking tickets a huge source of revenue. Enforcing parking will open up spaces for customers at local businesses, he said.

"I’m not (in support of) coming up with huge fines," McGlynn said. "That’s not the purpose of this program at all. I view this as something that will help economic growth in the community."

Residents and business owners turned out to City Hall for the hearing, some to support the garage and others to express concerns. The current plans are about 30 percent complete and public input will be considered going forward, said Jim Batchelor of Arrowstreet architects.

One resident on the eastern side of Medford Square, who refused to provide her name, questioned why the garage isn't being built in the area of CVS on Riverside Avenue.

McGlynn said that was looked into, but the city doesn't own that land and CVS is not interested in moving. There are plans to eventually develop that side of the square, which include parking improvements, he said.

The city owns the land they plan to build the new garage on. It is the location of the previous garage, which was demolished in 2005 after the top floor collapsed.

Marguerite Lynch, owner of McGlynn-D'Errico flowers, said businesses in the square have taken a hit ever since the old garage was destroyed.

"We have all suffered,” she said. "The garage is a necessity to keep Medford Square alive.”

Edward Bonfilio, owner of the Paint Box on High Street, said he loved the brick siding and details of the building design.

"It’s very New England,” he said.

Garage Headed to Close Vote with Council

City Councilor Frederick Dello Russo said he supported a garage in the square, but wanted more information on city parking enforcement plans and how the project would be paid for.

“Medford Square does need this garage,” Dello Russo said. "How it is going to be paid for, I think, is going to be a very serious conversation.”

Several city councilors have spoken against the garage. McGlynn's decision to move ahead with the garage before implementing city-wide parking enforcement drove councilors Robert Penta and Michael Marks to call for a vote of no confidence against the mayor last year. The vote failed, 5-2.

More recently, councilor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said her review of the school budget prompted her to question the city's priorities. During Tuesday's city council meeting, Lungo-Koehn referenced a budget report from a public school principal who said one school had a shortage of desks and chairs.

“We’d spend $8 million on a garage before parking enforcement is in place, yet we don’t have desks and chairs for our teachers and students," she said.

Last night, Dello Russo said the garage would not take away from school funding.

"That couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.