Portland SmartPark garages showing their age
The city's about to let a contract for architecture and engineering work for rehabbing four of its downtown SmartPark garages, which according to this report (a quite large pdf file) are in pretty rough shape. The call for bids says that it's going to take about $5 million to fix the four of them. Not included is the 10th and Morrison garage, where the Peterson's controversy is raging -- that one's going to get radically reformed as the city continues turning that area into Moyerville.
| Posted at 9:29 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (8)
The set up used to be that the operating costs of the parking garages used to be covered by the parking fees which included a budgeted reserve for capital maintenance. \
However, that cash flow was tapped to fund the City's share of Street car funding. Check on it. It follows the City Strategy of letting the Taxpayers assets which we paid taxes for rot while the O & M money and fees are drained off for "revenue bonds" pledged with the cash flow of fees so they don't have to go to the voters to approve the toys for developers.
This why you need to add the depreciated assets from the CAFR to the debt clock, which is in excess of $2Billion, and the OFMA's estimate of over $100 million a year in the unfunded maintenance shortfall on the roads, parks, and most of the City's buildings.
Posted by swimmer | July 9, 2008 1:54 PM
Swimmer, a standing ovation for pointing this out. This is the type of information will never find in the major news papers. Talk about the city council making decisions like trailer trash. I wonder if their personal credit cards are also maxed out.
Posted by John Benton | July 9, 2008 4:19 PM
Work should start just about the time the Holiday Shopping Season gets underway; eliminating at least several hundred parking spaces from being used.
Posted by Dave A. | July 9, 2008 6:08 PM
"the Peterson's controversy is raging"
What controversy - Sam et al are convinced if we shut down a 7-11 that will magically stop all the detritus that MAX brings downtown. Ha-Ha!
Posted by Steve | July 9, 2008 7:10 PM
Work should start just about the time the Holiday Shopping Season gets underway; eliminating at least several hundred parking spaces from being used.
But the private Moyer parking lot under the new park will be open for business, eh?
Posted by Jack Bog | July 9, 2008 9:25 PM
It's open already; it opened last year, the week after Thanksgiving.
Posted by Isaac Laquedem | July 10, 2008 12:50 AM
Oh, I know! And when all the SmartParks are ripped up for rehab/tower on top, MoyerPark will do quite well.
Posted by Jack Bog | July 10, 2008 12:56 AM
On the good side, the MoyerPark is one of the few big downtown projects where the developer gave money and property to the city, and not the other way around.
Posted by Isaac Laquedem | July 10, 2008 1:07 AM