The downtown Lima parking garage has 376 spaces in it at 150 W. Market St., across from the Wingate hotel. It’s four-tenths of a mile away from the new Greater Lima Region Inc. Park and Amphitheater.
David Trinko | The Lima News
LIMA
John Heaphy treasures what he calls “downtown five-star evenings.”
“Everything is clicking,” said the owner of downtown Lima’s Old City Prime restaurant. “Say there’s a show in the Crouse Performance Hall, and there’s a wedding in the exhibit hall. It’s just on a night where Old City Prime is busy, and there are other activities going on.”
It’s a dream come true for someone dedicated to revitalizing Lima’s downtown. It’s a little more difficult for people looking for a place to park their vehicles nearby.
“It’s already kind of a tight scenario,” Heaphy said.
The opening of the 800-seat Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater in August, Heaphy’s planned multi-tenant restaurant project at the corner of Spring and Main streets and other improvements downtown could bring thousands more people to the city’s center.
Will there be enough parking for all those people visiting those attractions?
“Yes, there is plenty of parking in downtown Lima,” said Tara Reynolds-Bales, the executive director of the Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission. “Now, we also have to take into consideration that there is going to be some walking.”
Trolleys and a little entrepreneurial spirit also play into the downtown parking equation.
By the numbers
A 2021 parking study by CT Consultants found 4,192 parking spaces in downtown Lima, designated as an area between the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern rail line and the Ottawa River and between the CSX rail line and Pierce Street.
Of those 4,192 spaces, 1,297 were owned by a public entity, and another 716 were on the streets. That left 2,179 privately owned parking spots, according to Jessica Begonia, Lima’s public information officer.
The RPC conducted a similar study back in 2017 and came to similar conclusions. In that study, they found only 39.3% of the parking places were being used downtown, including 49.5% usage for the public off-street parking and 28.1% of the public on-street parking.
The CT Consultants study also suggested the need for a place to park 1,296 vehicles for a “peak crowd,” which would include 3,600 spectators and 240 performers.
Heaphy knows a bit about parking spots, needing 130 for his Beer Barrel restaurants. He hopes with good partnerships downtown, more private parking can open up to help everyone.
“The amount of street parking on surrounding blocks is sufficient,” he said. “I mean, people may have to, when the amphitheater is busy, park down a couple blocks and utilize street parking and walk to it.”
Moving feet, changed minds
“According to that parking study, there is plenty of parking in downtown Lima,” said Betsy Billingsley, executive director of Downtown Lima Inc. “What they found is that people just don’t want to walk. That’s kind of true, I think, anywhere you go in smaller towns. When you get to bigger cities, you’re definitely walking two, three, sometimes even four blocks to get where you want to go.”
There’s a parking garage at 150 W. Market St. with 376 spaces in it, with a walkway connecting it to Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center. It’s a bit farther to the amphitheater, though, a distance of four-tenths of a mile that would take an estimated seven minutes to walk.
RPC’s study in 2017 suggested people didn’t want to walk more than about 250 yards to get to their vehicles. It’s worth taking the stroll, said the RPC’s Reynolds-Bales.
There’s a beauty to walking. One is the health factor,” Reynolds-Bales said. “You also walk past other stores, so it’s not just walking to the venue or it’s not just walking to the restaurant that I want to go to. It’s now seeing the other stores, retailers, vendors and attractions that are around you.”
It’s also not as far of a walk as you might think, Billingsley said, noting people walk just as far to shop at big box stores.
“You’re parking sometimes half a mile away from the Meijer entrance,” she said. “You’re still walking to the department that you want to get to. And for some reason, people don’t see that distance, the same as you have walking a block to get to the Civic Center or the amphitheater.”
Taking a trolley
Another solution involves a free downtown trolley ride by Allen County Regional Transit Authority.
The RTA bought two refurbished trolley cars last month, said Brian Wildermuth, the co-executive director of the RTA. Each seats around 25 people buy can have up to 20 riders standing as well.
“We want to be part of moving the city forward,” Wildermuth said. “We’re not stalling out or anything. We need ot be ready when everything comes along.”
Starting Saturdays on July 1, a “Lima loop” route will run around downtown Lima, stopping at restaurants, shops, attractions and various parking areas. It will start running from 8:20 a.m. until around 5:15 p.m., but additional hours will be added when needed.
A second route will run on days with events at the amphitheater, starting with its grand opening weekend Thursday, Aug. 3-Saturday, Aug. 5. That route will focus on getting people from popular parking locations to the new venue.
The loops will run continuously, he said. Within eight to 10 minutes, riders should be at their destinations.
More options may be added next year, Wildermuth said, with a goal of running the trolleys in May through November before shutting down for the winter.
“Usually you see this in bigger cities, which is great,” Wildermuth said. “We just have to scale it back a little bit to make it our sized, make it work for us. Then we get that big city hoopla that people like. We just do it on a little bit of a smaller scale, but it works for us that way and for the community.”
Other options
Opening up private lots to the public is another option. The 2017 RPC study found off-street parking was only 37.8% full.
The city is working with stakeholders, including the Civic Center, RTA, Lima Rotary Club and the Lima Police Department to be creative.
“Over the coming weeks, the planning partners will also be looking for private lots owners who may be interested in allowing short-term parking for a fee,” Lima’s Begonia said.
Heaphy notices differences downtown depending on the time of day. For instance, Allen County Children Services has a 140-car lot across the street from his restaurant that goes mostly unused at night. He could see other businesses and organizations making extra money by using their parking.
“For the activities that are going to come downtown, I could see people with a nice-sized lot that maybe you would charge $5 for parking spaces,” he said.
Ultimately, people will be willing to park wherever they can if the entertainment is worth it, Heaphy said, especially if it’s for one of those “five-star downtown evenings.”
“There were times with Square Fair that they had some big-name acts, including Charlie Daniels (in 2007) and Creedence Clearwater Revisited (in 2004),” Heaphy said. “I remember the crowd was estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 people, and everyone found a place to park.”
Other parking lots have opened up recently, including a 45-spot lot at Market and Central and a planned 46-spot lot near Old City Prime, Heaphy said.
The city will share a parking map in the future, Begonia said. It may also evaluate whether new parking signs are needed to identify available lots.
It’s an exciting time for Lima’s residents and visitors, if they just keep an open mind, RPC’s Reynolds-Bales said.
“This is just a different idea for folks who may want to park next to where they’re going,” she said. “… It’s just a change of mind, and I have faith in the people here in the Lima area that we can make this change, because this is a good change.”
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
