Parking deck plan draws Cooper-Young residents
By Greg Williams/MicroMemphis Reporter
The plans for a new, structured parking garage in Cooper-Young brought residents out to the Cooper-Young Community Association meeting to ask questions and voice their opinions about the proposed idea. The consensus opinion of the community is a need for more parking in the neighborhood for residents and tourists, and also to reduce the parking on residential streets.
“It should help eliminate the need to park in residential areas,” says Tamara Cook, Cooper-Young Business Association Director. “There have been talks in the past about parking garages in Cooper-Young, but this one has progressed the furthest, even though it is still very preliminary.”
The proposed garage would be free to use, and would provide a couple hundred spaces in a lit, and covered structure in the heart of the neighborhood on Young Avenue in between Blythe and Meda.
CYBA called on the services of Structured Parking Solutions for the potential design and construction of the massive project. They invited the community to meet one of its representatives, Greg Darden, who serves as Business Development Director of that company.
“Our goal was to not make it look like a parking garage. That was our main goal,” Darden said. “We wanted it to blend in with its surroundings, but make it stand out in its own way.”
The concept design of the structure suggests they surpassed that goal with flying colors. It was also proposed that the ground level of the building has available space for commercial or retail use.
“The parking structure itself has a retail feel to it. Again, it doesn’t have to look like a parking garage,” Darden explained. “It was agreed upon to have space that we designated to be habitable space. Whether it’s for retail or commercial use, or to display local art, whatever. That was one of the things we wanted to make it unique.”
The idea was met with various opinions from the Cooper-Young community. Reverend Cheryl Cornish of First Congregational Church says that “there have not been enough discussions for a ‘greener’ solution for parking in the neighborhood. It seems that all we’ve heard is parking garage, parking garage, parking garage.”
Another resident agreed with her, calling a parking garage, “overkill.” But other residents were very much in favor of the idea, and of the design itself.
“I think it’s a beautiful design, you knocked it out of the park,” resident Bobby Cook said.
Darden was very receptive to all the opinions of the community and understood the concerns they had. Some of which was security. In light of the issue that Rev. Cornish mentioned, Darden responded by saying that “a structured parking garage is one of the greenest things you can do for vehicle parking. It takes up less space than a level parking ground, and also gives more of a sense of security.”
It’s unclear of what kinds of security measures would be implemented in the new garage such as cameras or a security staff. Those details are to be determined later in the project’s future. If approved, the construction of the new garage would take approximately one year to complete, according to Darden.
Click here to view map of the proposed area.
The plans for a new, structured parking garage in Cooper-Young brought residents out to the Cooper-Young Community Association meeting to ask questions and voice their opinions about the proposed idea. The consensus opinion of the community is a need for more parking in the neighborhood for residents and tourists, and also to reduce the parking on residential streets.
“It should help eliminate the need to park in residential areas,” says Tamara Cook, Cooper-Young Business Association Director. “There have been talks in the past about parking garages in Cooper-Young, but this one has progressed the furthest, even though it is still very preliminary.”
The proposed garage would be free to use, and would provide a couple hundred spaces in a lit, and covered structure in the heart of the neighborhood on Young Avenue in between Blythe and Meda.
CYBA called on the services of Structured Parking Solutions for the potential design and construction of the massive project. They invited the community to meet one of its representatives, Greg Darden, who serves as Business Development Director of that company.
“Our goal was to not make it look like a parking garage. That was our main goal,” Darden said. “We wanted it to blend in with its surroundings, but make it stand out in its own way.”
The concept design of the structure suggests they surpassed that goal with flying colors. It was also proposed that the ground level of the building has available space for commercial or retail use.
“The parking structure itself has a retail feel to it. Again, it doesn’t have to look like a parking garage,” Darden explained. “It was agreed upon to have space that we designated to be habitable space. Whether it’s for retail or commercial use, or to display local art, whatever. That was one of the things we wanted to make it unique.”
The idea was met with various opinions from the Cooper-Young community. Reverend Cheryl Cornish of First Congregational Church says that “there have not been enough discussions for a ‘greener’ solution for parking in the neighborhood. It seems that all we’ve heard is parking garage, parking garage, parking garage.”
Another resident agreed with her, calling a parking garage, “overkill.” But other residents were very much in favor of the idea, and of the design itself.
“I think it’s a beautiful design, you knocked it out of the park,” resident Bobby Cook said.
Darden was very receptive to all the opinions of the community and understood the concerns they had. Some of which was security. In light of the issue that Rev. Cornish mentioned, Darden responded by saying that “a structured parking garage is one of the greenest things you can do for vehicle parking. It takes up less space than a level parking ground, and also gives more of a sense of security.”
It’s unclear of what kinds of security measures would be implemented in the new garage such as cameras or a security staff. Those details are to be determined later in the project’s future. If approved, the construction of the new garage would take approximately one year to complete, according to Darden.
Click here to view map of the proposed area.
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Greg Darden of Structured Parking Solutions introduces the design of the garage and
took questions from local residents about some specifics of the building. |