Everett’s Everpark Garage might see upgrades in coming months

EVERETT — Automation and other upgrades might be coming to Everpark, the public parking garage at Hewitt and Hoyt avenues.

The city-owned garage has been around nearly half a century, and it makes a profit. But at a recent meeting of the Downtown Everett Association, business owners said they wished more customers made use of it.

“A lot of people don’t know the garage is for public parking,” said Dana Oliver, director of the association.

The group is working on new signs directing drivers that way. They manage the garage through a city contract.

“We’ve certainly looked at different concepts to freshen up the look of the parking garage,” said Michael Palacios, who oversees property management for Everett.

That includes two efforts: the automation, and repairs for damaged concrete, exposed rebar and roof drainage.

“It’s primarily cosmetic,” Palacios said. “It is not in any way causing any structural deterioration but if left unchecked it could eventually become a bigger problem.”

The garage’s 493 stalls are supposed to provide some relief for parking challenges downtown. The majority of its parkers buy monthly passes. Parking is free evenings and weekends.

As the garage gets some attention, so do the city’s parking codes.

Zoning and other rules for downtown are getting overhauled through the Metro Everett plan, which could go before the City Council in the coming months. One focus has been whether to amend the off-street parking requirements for new development.

The city expects to seek bids for the repairs in June or July. It likely will hire a consultant in the fall to look into automation.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rikkiking.

Details

The Everpark garage’s hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The daily fees are $2 for two hours, $5 for four hours and $8 for longer.

More than 200 spaces also are made available for free after 6 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday.