Mayor Plusquellic said he wants to see if offering free parking will encourage participation at Lock 3, boost attendance at Canal Park and stimulate downtown business after dark.

"This is a pilot program," Plusquellic stressed, "that will answer two important questions: does it achieve our objective of encouraging more people to participate in downtown activities and does it work from an administrative standpoint"?

There is a cost to the city. Plusquellic said, "We will, of course, lose some revenue from the $2 special event parking and we will be increasing staffing. We should see less than a $30,000 annual cost for this new plan."

Where the garages now have an attendant, that practice will continue. Where city decks have not had one, the City will pay an additional cost to have an attendant on duty at high traffic times, including every Friday and Saturday night. The presence of an attendant will increase the feeling of security for those who use the decks.

This means, in most decks, parkers will still take a ticket and turn it in at the exit booth. If they have arrived after 6 p.m., or if it’s a weekend day or holiday, they will pay nothing.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Jim Phelps said this should help businesses. "Every purchase made downtown indirectly produces revenue to the city in that we collect income tax from every person employed downtown," said Phelps.

Last weekend at Lock 3, despite inclement weather, more than 1,500 people came to events from the Friday night concert, to the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market and the Sunday afternoon Bicentennial Bell casting. This weekend there is a TGIF party that is free. Saturday the concert with Eddie Money has a $10 admission charge, and the Farmers’ Market is free on Saturday mornings from 9-noon.

Downtown Parking Facilities:

• Decks/Garages
  • Broadway deck at 120 South Broadway
  • Cascade deck at 10 West Mill Street
  • CitiCenter deck at 132 South High Street
  • Morley deck at 177 South Broadway
  • O’Neil’s deck at 55 West State Street
  • Superblock garage at 11 West Mill Street
• Surface Lots
  • Convention Center lot at 63 South Broadway
  • Maiden Alley and East Exchange Street
  • Superblock lot next to Federal Building
  • Bowery Street lot south of Civic Theatre
  • Main Street lot across from Canal Park

The summer free parking program will run through Labor Day and be evaluated in September.