Officials seek ‘iconic’ appeal in new downtown parking garage

As two architectural firms compete to design a new downtown parking garage, Bradenton officials believe its design will set the standard for future downtown development.

“We are pretty frugal here but also very entrepreneurial,” said Mayor Wayne Poston. “We understand how iconic this building needs to be, and we are concerned about design in everything we do.”

Harvard Jolly and Fawley Bryant architects made their final pitches to the city council on Thursday. The garage will be located on the corner of Third Avenue West and Old Main Street.

The design is to complement existing architectural elements of downtown and serve as an expansion of Old Main Street retail.

Project goals include a garage accommodating up to 450 spaces and determining how many of those spaces would be dedicated to public parking. Some of the spaces may be reserved for city emergency vehicles, and 100 spaces are dedicated to the new Spring Hill Suites by Marriott that is expected to begin construction this spring to the west of city hall.

After presentations, Vice Mayor Patrick Roff said it was an “enlightening” morning.

“You’ve given us many things to think about and that’s appreciated,” Roff said. “This is going to be a signature deal for us.”

Roff especially liked conceptual proposals for a retail plaza that would run down Third Avenue on the south side as an extension of Old Main Street.

Five major projects are scheduled to be under construction around the same time: the garage, the hotel, the South Florida Museum expansion, the Twin Dolphin Marina renovations and a downtown streetscaping project.

Councilman Bemis Smith is looking even farther down the road when it comes to the garage’s design.

“There is going to be some major redevelopment down the road within this very block,” Smith said, referring to the city’s goal of eventually selling city hall for private development. “The garage is first, so I concur that this building needs to be unique in and of itself and lead the way for future buildings that may come around it.”

Five developers presented proposals on Tuesday for construction of the garage. Cost estimates are unknown and will largely depend on the design the city pursues. A timetable has been established to have construction completed by the end of 2018, around the same time the hotel will be completed.

The council will select the construction manager and the design firm at 9 a.m. March 1, following a blocked attempt on Wednesday to select the construction manager without it being on Wednesday’s meeting agenda.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Officials seek ‘iconic’ appeal in new downtown parking garage."