MORGANTOWN — With a roughly $1.7 million project to shore up the 45-year-old University Avenue parking garage complete, the city is turning its attention to Spruce Street.
Morgantown Parking Authority Executive Director Dana McKenzie said Tuesday a structural assessment of the Spruce Street garage will commence in the coming weeks.
“I can tell you off the top of my head that it’s not going to be near as in-depth as what the University Avenue parking garage was,” he said, explaining the Spruce Street structure is at least 10 years younger.
“It’s been very well maintained, but we’re starting to see a few places where we’ve got cracks in beams,” McKenzie said. “We don’t think there’s anything structurally imperative right now that would keep folks from parking in there but we want to get ahead of the curve and make sure it’s taken care of before we start seeing issues.”
McKenzie went on to say the parking authority is continuing its search for a suitable location to place a maintenance shop and employee area.
He first approached council last April explaining the 15-year wish for a dedicated shop space was becoming a pressing need as the authority has outgrown the patchwork of locations it is using, including the basement level of city hall, which was lost to the ongoing renovation project.
The parking authority has its office area in the public safety building and two small garages in the University Avenue and Wharf District parking structures.
Previous discussions about building a 5,000-square-foot multipurpose space on the ground level of the University Avenue parking garage fell through over fears it too would soon be outgrown.
McKenzie said the parking authority was also looking at the old car wash location at 132 South High St., but has since learned the site was previously a gas station and would need soil remediation, likely forcing the removal of the desired structures.
But there’s another South High property that just might become available.
“I did email Emily [Muzzarelli] and let her know that should the South High fire station become available in the future, that may be something we’d be interested in getting our name thrown in that hat as well and see if that might be a possibility,” McKenzie said.
The city received $6 million in federal earmarks to replace the South High fire station and is in the process of determining if the station will remain at its current location.
