Parking problem eased for downtown arts patrons www.tucsoncitizen.com ®:
Parking problem eased for downtown arts patrons
TEYA VITU
Published: 07.08.2008
Patrons at Beowulf Alley Theatre and The Drawing Studio may use the county-owned parking lot across Sixth Avenue from the arts organization, a reversal of the long-held policy of limiting parking to just permit holders.
That will be a relief to theater patrons and artists, many elderly and less mobile, officials at both entities said.
Until Monday, Beth Dell of Beowulf and Lynn Fleischman of The Drawing Studio had the distinct impression that Pima County would not allow Beowulf or Drawing Studio patrons to use the permit-only, 90-space lot behind the Chicago Store, even in the evening or on weekends.
Dell said her landlord in the past year had asked the county for permission to use the 77 E. Broadway lot and the "county gave a resounding no on grounds that it is a liability." Fleischman had similar results in prior efforts to use the lot between Scott and Sixth avenues.
"I'm delighted the county is helping the merchants downtown," said Dell, theater manager at Beowulf, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
Beowulf Alley and Drawing Studio patrons typically had to walk several blocks from the Pennington Street Garage or Armory Park to get their performance or art kicks, while the lot sits empty across the street.
"We have a lot of people that have some mobility issues," said Fleischman, executive director at The Drawing Studio, 33 S. Sixth Ave.
The county discourages the general public from using the lot because it is in need of repair, is not lighted at night nor patrolled, said Reid Spaulding, who became Pima County's facilities management director 10 weeks ago.
"If they are parked there at night, no, we're not going to haul it," Spaulding said. "You can use it, but it's at your own risk. The preference is for people not to use it, especially during the day."
Spaulding added that security patrols will not cite vehicles parked there at night.
The issue surfaced at last week's Downtown Tucson Partnership board meeting, where Dell brought up not being allowed to use the county lot as she described how "patrons tell me they are afraid to come downtown."
Hotel Congress owner Richard Oseran has long been disgruntled with the county's refusal to pay into the Downtown Tucson Partnership or its predecessor Tucson Downtown Alliance.
"It's shocking to me that the county can't open a parking lot at night," Oseran said last week. "The county has failed from day one in contributing anything (to the partnership/alliance)."
The parking lot is one of four city and county properties assigned to Glenn Lyons, chief executive of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, to sell to the private sector. Lyons questions the county's parking policies, which keep El Presidio Garage at City Hall closed on weekends and after 6 p.m. on weekdays.
"If they wanted to do it, they could," Lyon said about allowing the public to park at the Broadway lot. "The one on Broadway would be great for evening traffic. The way the county has chosen to run parking is an issue."
