Sandpoint cuts ribbon on improved public parking lot
ERIC WELCH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 2 weeks AGO
Pictured from left, Sandpoint city engineer Brandon Staglund, public works director Holly Ellis and Mayor Jeremy Grimm address attendees during a Tuesday ribbon cutting ceremony at the city’s newly refinished downtown parking lot.
Photo by ERIC WELCH
Mayor Jeremy Grimm cuts a ribbon over the lot's new Third Avenue entrance.
SANDPOINT — About one month after an initiative to resurface Sandpoint’s primary downtown parking lot was approved, city personnel cut the ribbon over its entrance and officially opened the area to vehicles Tuesday morning.
City staff and contractors met their goal to complete the project ahead of Sandpoint’s tourist season and before the start of the annual Lost in the '50s car show, which kicks off Thursday.
According to Mayor Jeremy Grimm, the initiative to rehabilitate the public parking lot at Church Street and Third Avenue has been budgeted and put off every year since 2014.
City councilors voted April 9 to approve a $434,085 contract for the work, which included new pavement, dark sky-compliant streetlights, expanded ADA access and improved stormwater treatment infrastructure. The money was provided by Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency — an independent board that uses property tax revenue to fund public infrastructure improvements in Sandpoint’s downtown core.
During Tuesday’s ceremony, Grimm praised city staff including engineer Brandon Staglund for designing the new lot. Staglund decided to bring the area into compliance with parking stall size requirements by reducing the total number of spots from 127 to 119. He also eliminated the lot’s two existing entrances in favor of a single entrance on Third Avenue that he said remedies dangerous pedestrian conditions.
“Hopefully this parking lot will perform in a more efficient and safer manner,” Grimm said Tuesday.
Input from residents and city officials led to design revisions that preserved a collection of mature trees on the property. Grimm noted that additional trees will be planted in the area soon.
Grimm also told attendees that in congruence with the city’s recent initiative to implement parking fees downtown, the improved lot is compatible with modern paid parking infrastructure.
He added that because the lot is a common landing spot for visitors arriving in Sandpoint for the first time, the area plays a role in their first impression of the city and is more than “just a simple parking lot.”
“This is hopefully one step in many that show that starting with one location, we can improve and maintain our infrastructure here in Sandpoint,” he said.
Mayor Jeremy Grimm cuts a ribbon over the lot's new Third Avenue entrance.ARTICLES BY ERIC WELCH
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