Tackling parking issue carries hefty price tag

LACONIA — The multimillion-dollar question of how to address downtown parking will again be before the City Council when it meets on Monday.

The cost to reconstruct the city’s existing parking structure, including structural repairs, could run around $6.6 million, according to a report prepared by City Manager Scott Myers.

That figure is based on a $4.5 million estimate which the city got two years ago, and then factoring in the cost of inflation and increases in materials and labor to figure how much it would cost to do the same project in a 2022-23 time frame, Myers said.

Mayor Andrew Hosmer believes that adequate, convenient parking is critical to the continued economic growth of downtown. But he said the city also has to pay close attention to what impact such a project could have on property taxes.

“We need our business community to thrive,” Hosmer said Friday. “But we need to be aware of how (providing more parking) affects taxes."

Because of structural problems the city’s 250-space parking garage is only 42 percent usable.

City Public Works Director Wes Anderson told the council earlier this month that city cannot continue using Band-Aid remedies to shore up the three-level structure for much longer. The city needs either to rebuild the parking decks or take them down, he said.

The city owns the parking decks, but not the commercial space on the ground level. So if the parking decks were to be taken down the city would need to pay to pull down the parking structure and also put a new roof on the commercial space. The total cost of that option is estimated at around $2 million, according to Myers’ report.

The cost for a new 250-space garage is estimated at $10 million. That figure does not include land acquisition cost and assumes that the site does not pose any special construction challenges.

On Monday the council is expected to discuss Myers’ report and well as scheduling a public hearing for Sept. 13.