VIGO Co., Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The Vigo County Capital Improvement Board wants to create more downtown parking by building a lot where the Vigo County School Corporation’s administration building stands.
The original plan for the convention center involved the construction of two parking garages , but the CIB said building a new lot would be more cost effective.
Some Terre Haute business owners believe a new parking lot would have positive long-term effects.
“We’re also going to get a lot more foot traffic of people actually utilizing businesses because they think, ‘Oh, I’ll just go in for a minute,’. Well, that one minute might actually turn into a much larger sale for a small business,” said Matthew Houtz, COO of Body Balance Physical Medicine.
Jeff Habermel, owner of J. Gumbo’s agrees.
“We’d like to have more volume. We’d like to have more people on the ground, more people visiting downtown. So it’s a little easier for the local businesses to obviously make more money,” he said.
An ordinance filed by Terre Haute City Councilman Todd N ation could prevent the new lot. His ordinance says off-street parking must be located behind new businesses.
Right now, there are multiple parking garages in the downtown area. Including the Skygarden which is located right next door to J. Gumbo’s.
“We haven’t really advertised it very well. But we do pay for the parking next door for people to come in and take advantage of that,” Habermel said.
Business owners add that a new parking option would be helpful to their customers.
“Surface parking, I think, would make a big difference because that convenience just immediately moves to something else. To add more of the same would not be beneficial,” said Houtz.
Councilman Nation’s ordinance will be heard at Wednesday’s area plan commission meeting. They will make recommendations.
