Naperville may put brakes on parking deck plans

Naperville's plans to build a parking deck at the downtown Nichols Library may face an uncertain future in light of the city's budget crunch.

Some councilmen say the city needs to reassess its priorities and consider delaying the $20 million project.

"It's a reasonable thing to take pause, see how the Van Buren (deck) addition works out, the Water Street parking works out," Councilman Grant Wehrli said Wednesday. "If we need to address it in five years I would keep an open mind about it, but I'm not in a hurry to spend money right now."

The proposed Nichols deck would be a roughly 520-space structure to replace the library's 130-space surface lot. It originally was scheduled to be built in 2009 but later was pushed back to 2010.

The proposal was already a controversial one, drawing criticism from neighbors who are concerned about its proximity to their homes as well as the cost of construction.

The Nichols deck is one of three parking projects that would add a total of about 1,000 spaces to downtown, including a 317-space Van Buren addition that is now open and a new 557-space Water Street deck set to begin construction in summer 2009.

The decks are being funding by the city, developers and an additional 1.5 percent tax on food and beverages at downtown bars and restaurants.

However, the city is now facing a $5.1 million budget shortfall that has forced spending and job cuts in numerous departments.

Councilman Robert Fieseler agrees the city needs to go back to the drawing board and reassess the plans. He said improvements to the existing parking garage near the corner of Chicago Avenue and Washington Street may be a better use of tax dollars.

"I think we have a lot more need over there, we have a fine arts center that deserves some amenities to get people in and out of there. The shopping center across the street ... is in distress because of the parking situation," Fieseler said during Tuesday's city council meeting. "I just think going forward with the library parking is premature."

Councilman Richard Furstenau, however, said the council shouldn't change course after already spending at least $1 million in initial design and engineering costs.

"I'm not so sure anything else is going to get built around here or anywhere else and this thing is on target to get built so let's get it built," he said. "I think we'll get a good price on it next spring."

Wehrli said he expects further discussion on the parking deck projects during budget workshops in the coming winter and spring.