More than a parking garage
(Editorial reproduced courtesy of the St. Augustine Record.)
July 2, 2006 - (St. Augustine, Fla.) Some very good minds were put to work on this project. Good planning and creative design are apparent everywhere. Local input was sought and genuinely incorporated into the plan. And these factors have conspired to produce something much bigger and better than a place to simply park cars. The facility isn't so much a parking garage as it is a transportation hub inside the city. The garage is only one very key element in a larger plan to first bring our visitors and residents downtown, and then help organize their experiences in the Oldest City -- whether that is sightseeing for tourists or access to our eclectic shops and galleries for residents.
A second key element of the plan is the renovation of the Visitor Information Center. That is three months from completion, but when it's done, it will become the first point of contact for visitors. One of the most unique design concepts in the overall plan is a large mosaic, currently being assembled in Mexico. The 336 square-foot, hand-laid mosaic features a map of the old colonial city that's orientated true to actual compass points. We were able to see pictures of the work in progress and it's destined to be something guests and residents will talk about and remember.
The VIC is designed in conjunction with the garage, which is engineered to funnel users directly through its doors. There they can get the information they need to tour the town. From there, free shuttles will drop them at key locations downtown. The carriage horses will also be there in an area designed with shade and watering and hose-down stations.
A remarkable pedestrian plaza bridges the gap between the garage and the VIC. It is built in direct line with the Cubo Line -- the city's historic outer defense fortification. The plaza will have a Spanish Colonial theme, very similar to St. George Street. Sabal Palms will be planted at its interior. Lighting will be strung between. Planners envision the plaza as a staging place for visitors and a gathering place for locals. Musicians might play there at dusk. A weekend farmer's market, coffee carts and bicycle rentals are milling around in the minds of city staff (and wow, what a place the fourth floor would be to watch the fireworks next year).
A third element of the design plan is on the opposite, or west, side of the garage. This is adjacent to the city's special events field, and presents all kinds of possibilities to enhance the use of the field for many more festivals, art shows and other events. For the first time the events field will be friendly to the handicapped (as will the entire facility). The garage and events field will act symbiotically in cultural happenings.
The north side of the garage will be bordered by a concourse designed to later exhibit the many historic artifacts the city owns, but has no place to display. The south side is wrapped by a loggia designed around three rotunda areas that will display local art and statuary.
So the garage is literally "wrapped" in elements that will perform double-duty: provide richer experience for those using the facility and do a nice job of "hiding" the garage itself.
If the term "artful" can be applied to landscaping, you'll see it here. The city actually tagged, cataloged, transplanted and saved over 100 of the trees originally on the property and will return those to the site. The retention pond has been built with huge stones reminiscent of the Castillo de San Marcos or the bay front seawall -- a kind of cultural engineering.
There are dozens more impressive design elements planned, but you can see those for yourself in a few months.
When the project is completed this fall, St. Augustine will have among the finest transportation and tourist facilities in the country. And we can't give enough credit to city staff and the teams of architects and designers for what is clearly a painstaking marriage of engineering and creativity. The end result is something uniquely St. Augustine, and something we'll be proud of.
We're not used to "gushing" about municipal projects -- and frankly it feels a little awkward, if not eerie. But we'll bet that a year from now residents will take their out-of-town guests downtown just to show them around the facility. And we foresee tourists talking to friends at home about their experience there and concluding, "And they even hid a parking garage in there, too."
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