Aurora plans uses for new downtown parking
A parking lot project that will generate 154 spaces in downtown Aurora also is triggering some concerns about how the spots will be divided among users.
Alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns said spaces must be available for patrons and employees of New York Street restaurants such as Ballydoyle Irish Pub and Restaurant and Comfort Zone BBQ, as well as Waubonsee Community College students and Hollywood Casino employees.
“In order for Ballydoyle and Restaurant Row to be successful, (customers) need to find parking spaces,” Hart-Burns said.
Ballydoyle’s owner, Phil Cullen, said on nights when the Paramount Theatre has shows and restaurants draw big crowds, downtown parking can be scarce.
“Sometimes it gets a little tight and it’s a little hard to find the spaces,” Cullen said. “I think it’s important to have additional spaces and also clearly marked signage of where it’s at.”
The city is studying time limits and parking enforcement hours to ensure enough spots are available for each use, said Bill Wiet, Aurora’s development director.
The new spaces will be built after demolition of the former YWCA building at 201 N. River St. is complete in early March, said Mark Anderson, superintendent of central services. The city purchased the YWCA for $6 million last April with the intention of temporarily using it for parking until a developer expresses interest in the riverfront property.
The new spots will connect two existing lots on the west side of the Fox River between Vine and Pinney streets. Parking in all areas of the new lot will be free. Signs indicating time limits — not meters — will regulate how long vehicles can stay.
“It will make a more effective parking layout,” Wiet said.
New or amended agreements with the casino and the college will govern which organization uses which section of the parking area.
Waubonsee Community College spokesman Jeff Noblitt said talks with the city about a parking agreement are “ongoing and positive,” but the agreement is not yet finalized.
Students will be able to exit the new downtown campus and use the Riverwalk or new sidewalks to sections of the lot that will be designated for daylong parking, Wiet said. Other spots in the southern lot, now used as valet parking for Hollywood Casino, likely will be marked for short-term parking suitable for restaurant customers.
Aldermen will vote Feb. 22 on a proposed $9,500 contract with Walter E. Deuchler Associates of Aurora for final engineering designs of the new parking area. Then, Wiet said the city will seek bids for construction with the hope of having the new spots paved by June 1, when Waubonsee’s new campus is scheduled to open.