Drivers got to park free in Downtown Boise garages for 2 weeks. They weren’t told why
If you’ve parked in one of downtown Boise’s public parking garages since Thanksgiving, you probably have wondered why you didn’t have to pay. You and thousands of other drivers.
Usually, the seven parking garages owned by the Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal agency, are free for the first hour and $3 per hour thereafter. But they’ve been free (for the most part — more on that in a moment) since Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.
The gates have been up. Cars have been breezing through, staying for hours, and leaving at no charge. And CCDC has done nothing to publicize the giveaway.
What’s up? Could it be that the spirit of the holidays came over the agency?
Sorry, no, says Max Clark, CCDC’s director of parking and facilities. “That’s not out of the generosity of my heart,” he told the agency’s board on Monday.
Blame the computers.
CCCD servers, which control the automated gates from CCDC’s headquarters, malfunctioned, and all efforts to repair them have failed, Clark said.
The unexpected freebie pleasantly surprised motorists. It also pleased merchants, some of whom asked the Downtown Boise Association if they could publicize the free parking, according to Clark. He is grateful the association said no, because some garages faced overcrowding as word spread among regular commuters.
The mishap came at a busy time, with Steelheads hockey games, the Festival of Trees, the Grove Plaza Christmas tree lighting and Small Business Saturday all drawing drivers downtown. The problem will cost the agency an estimated $75,000 in revenue plus $45,000 or more in expenses, Clark said.
The party will end soon. Clark told the board that new servers have been installed, with new software. “Our fingers are crossed that they’ll be working Wednesday,” he said.
But to avoid disrupting drivers as they leave for their afternoon commutes home, CCDC won’t start operating the gates again until just after midnight Thursday morning.
That leaves just Tuesday and Wednesday to score some free parking.
Clark asks that you please not use the 9th & Main and Capitol & Main garages. “That’s where everyone goes,” he said.
At those garages, workers from The Car Park, a contractor for CCDC, are supposed to be telling drivers that they can park if they’re willing to pay the usual $3 an hour after the first hour. The workers give you time-stamped ticket that you hand an attendant in a booth upon leaving. Monthly parkers simply show their parking cards.
At the other garages, you can drive right in and stay all day. Go to Capitol & Front (under The Grove Hotel), 9th & Front across from Grove Plaza, 10th & Front (at Hotel 43), 11th & Front, or Capitol & Myrtle.
When things return to normal, you’ll still be able to get your first hour free.
“We lost a little bit of revenue, but it’s all, it’s all going to be good,” he said.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
