Vote On New Direction For Downtown Parking Garage Set To Take Place Tonight

A meeting will be held later this afternoon about the future of the parking garage development on the Oxford Square. Over the past year, plans for the garage have been developed, but a vote tonight could scrap those plans in favor of a new direction. The parking garage is set to be built on the current “Belk Lot,” the open lot behind the University Club.
“If approved, the city will change directions on the garage. It was initially proposed as design build and would become a traditional design-bid-build project,” said Bart Robinson, director of public works for the City of Oxford. 
The previous plan wouldn’t have allowed for an architect to take any artistic liberties with the design, but the design-bid-build project would do just that. Designing a new plan will also help the city find ways to reduce the cost of construction on the new structure. The current budget for the 500-car garage is $9 million. Adding to the historic Oxford Square, and the city is doing everything they can to ensure the garage doesn’t look out of place. 
“The parking garage is proposed to have appropriate design features and finishes, and a parapet profile compatible with the surrounding context and the buildings on and around the Historic Oxford Square,” said the city’s RFQ. “As much as possible, the design of the parking garage site should extend to the surrounding street environment and blend seamlessly with the urban streetscape.”
If the new plan is approved tonight, Robinson said the city has a tentative timeline in place for the future of the project. 
“If approved, the next step will be to select an architect or engineer to completely design the garage,” Robinson said. “It is still too early to be certain. I suspect the construction of the garage is a 10-15 month project.  If the design can be completed by September/October 2017, we are hopeful the construction could be bid late fall of 2017 and completed late fall of 2018.”
When it comes to the importance of this project, Robinson didn’t hold back on why it’s important to ensure they get the design of this garage right. 
“Possibly, it will be the single biggest change to downtown Oxford, ever,” Robinson said. 
The meeting will be held this afternoon at 5 o’clock at City Hall. If the plan is approved the deadline for submitted RFQs is March 28, 2017.

Steven Gagliano is a writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com.
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