LAS CRUCES - Parking near City Hall is a bit tighter these days. But in about two months there will be more covered parking spots.
Energy bills to heat, cool and power City Hall - bills paid in part through taxpayers - will also be cheaper.
Installation of a photovoltaic system has begun on the upper deck of the parking garage next to City Hall. By the end of next week, there is a decent chance that many of the 352 solar panels in the system will have been installed.
By mid-June those panels will be doing double duty, generating alternative energy for City Hall and providing shade for 48 vehicles parked on the upper deck.
"This project brings multiple benefits to the city ... and our residents," City Manager Robert Garza said. "For one, it provides for clean energy generation to offset costs to operate City Hall. It also serves as a great example to the community how an attractive and well-designed solar application can complement a commercial facility while also providing additional shaded parking for residents visiting City Hall."
The garage below the upper deck provides covered parking primarily for
Advertisement
city employees who work at City Hall. Those parking spaces have been pretty coveted because of the added benefit they offer. Soon, upper-level parking next to City Hall will be a premium, too. That's interesting considering there are many residents who aren't aware parking is available on the upper deck.
"Seriously, there's parking up there," Las Crucen Julie Holguin asked. "I never knew that. I've always tried to find a spot either in the parking garage, or near the trees near the (Albert Johnson) park. If the city is going to cover those spots on top of the garage, I'd park up there."
Under normal circumstances there is parking on the upper deck for 113 vehicles, including two handicapped parking spaces. Rarely have all the parking spaces there been filled; often, mostly city service vehicles are parked there.
The upper deck is accessible off of Campo Street.
But for now, parking spaces are limited on the upper deck while the solar panels are being installed. For about the next two months, some city employees and visitors to City Hall will have to park in lots near American Linen, City Hall's next-door neighbor, or in the parking lot at the 3rd Judicial District Court Complex, across the street from City Hall.
Other alternative parking includes: the lower parking deck east of City Hall and surrounding lots; the former City Hall, 200 N. Church St, about three blocks south; west of Fire Station 1, on Picacho Avenue; a large public parking lot near Insta-Copy, about 1 1/2 blocks south of City Hall; and El Calvario Church, at the northeast corner of Church Street and Las Cruces Avenue, northeast of the former City Hall.
"It should be emphasized there still is plenty of parking available near City Hall," said Soo Gyn Lee, project manager for the city. "Work will continue, and there will be fencing around the construction area, but there will be some room for people to park."
Lee said two "carports" - much like those that have been installed at the Las Cruces Convention Center, will be erected in the middle of parking garage's upper deck. The $500,000 project is expected to save the city $807,000 in energy costs during the 25-year life of the PV system, and the city will receive a $17,000 annual renewable energy credit from El Paso Electric Co. for 12 years.
Steve Ramirez can be reached at 575-541-5452. Follow him on Twitter @SteveRamirez6

Sun and shade

A 107.7 kilowatt photovoltaic system will be erected on top of the parking deck at Las Cruces City Hall.
The total cost of the project is $500,000.
The solar panels are expected to generate 192,000 kilowatt hours per year of energy.
The estimated energy savings per year at City Hall will be $24,000.
The estimated energy savings will be about 15 percent of what it costs to power City Hall
Two "carports" will be erected in the middle of the parking deck.
The project began in mid February and is anticipated to be completed by mid-June.