By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Work could start as soon as April 15 on a proposed $320,000 makeover of the city parking lot off the 100 block of East Innes Street.
Urban Design Planner Lynn Raker reviewed renovation plans for the parking lot with Salisbury City Council Tuesday.
The project will add decorative lighting, landscaping, traffic calming devices, brick walkways and an “entrance feature” at the driveway off East Innes Street.
Raker guessed the work would take at least two months. After completion, the parking lot would have 43 spaces, up from the 40 it offers now.
Raker also detailed plans for 18 new public parking spaces in the 200 block of South Lee Street and 54 new public spaces as part of an expanded parking lot behind City Hall.
In total, the city is looking at spending about $620,000 on the three parking lot projects. About 75 new public spaces would be created out of the 115 parking spaces involved.
Officials are hoping lower construction costs and materials could help with the overall budget, which originally had been $725,000. The money will come out of the $30 million-plus in debt financing the city recently took on for the new fiber-optic cable utility and other capital projects.
Raker said Hogan’s Alley, the narrow passage between the sides of Bernhardt Hardware and Textile Products, will be closed to vehicular traffic and become a brick walkway with new lighting.
A brick sidewalk also will be constructed along the rear of South Main Street properties that front onto the city parking lot.
Owners have expressed interest in applying for facade grants for those properties once the new parking lot is finished, Raker said.
The refurbished lot will still provide enough room for tractor-trailers to maneuver and make deliveries to the back of the hardware store, Raker said.
The city has held two meetings with property and business owners who will be affected. Raker said she also met individually with the stakeholders.
Raker said she hoped the parking lot could be resurfaced and not require a total excavation.
The 18 new parking spaces in the 200 block of South Lee Street would be constructed behind two cottages, which are now owned by Downtown Salisbury Inc. and the Salisbury Community Development Corp. Those agencies plan to rehabilitate the structures and sell them.
The new parking would have a pedestrian connection to the Noble & Kelsey Funeral Home and a driveway connection to the city’s small parking plaza at South Lee and East Fisher streets.
Raker said plans call for decorative lighting, landscaping and a permeable concrete paving to minimize water runoff. The estimated cost for the new parking is $125,000.
Behind City Hall and Queen’s, the city plans a straightforward parking lot expansion of 54 new spaces at a cost of $175,000. Again, the design calls for decorative lights and landscaping. The lot, which has a hump, will have to be graded.
Raker said she has met and spoken with representatives of Piedmont Players, which needs room in this area for installation of a geothermal heating unit.
The parking lot’s design could accommodate the layout for a geothermal well, and also could handle a parking deck, if that were needed in the future, Raker said.