City Annex Parking Garage to reopen next week in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 2, 2013) — After eight months of work, the Annex Parking Garage adjacent to the Lexington Division of Police and the Fayette County Clerk’s Office will soon reopen for business.

Gary Means, executive director of the Lexington Parking Authority, said he plans to reopen the six-story garage on Monday, May 6.

The project started in August and the garage has been closed since November, he said. Despite the extent of the work that had to be done, the work is on schedule and under budget, Means added.

“They had to take out a lot more concrete and steel than they thought they would,” he said. “But there was also some work they thought they would have to do that they didn’t have to do, so we’re coming in about $100,000 under budget.”

Renovation to the garage cost approximately $3.1 million, just for restoration work. The Parking Authority is also putting in all new gates and revenue control equipment, and new interior signage.

Among the improvements to the garage will be new lighting throughout, which is environmentally friendly, Means said. “It will be brighter and use less energy.”

The elevator, which accesses all six floors, has not been in use since the garage closed and will be checked before the garage reopens, Means said.

The garage has about 380 spaces. It is used by visitors to the downtown, particularly to the Fayette County Clerk’s office, by police officers and civilian personnel, monthly parkers and a few Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government employees.

“The bulk of the use is by visitors to the county clerk’s office,” Means said. “On some days, the clerk’s office had about 700 vehicles visiting on top of regular monthly parkers.”

Daytime rates for parking will not change, he said, but there will be a flat rate of $3 to park at nights and on weekends.

There will be no parking attendants, and visitors will pay at kiosks in the garage lobby and on the second floor near the entrance to the clerk’s office. They can pay with coins, dollar bills, and credit cards and will receive a token that allows them to exit at the gate.

There will be three exits from the garage – one onto Main Street and two onto Water Street.

Visitors to the Government Center who park in the Annex Garage will still receive 50 percent off their parking fees if they get their tokens validated, but visitors to other non-LFUCG offices will have to pay full price, which is about $2 a hour.