Parking Garage

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- The possibility of building a garage to deal with growing parking demands in downtown Charles Town was discussed Wednesday night during a meeting of council of governments, where local governments meet informally to discuss issues. Gary Rawlings, Charles Town's new city manager, said perhaps a revenue bond could be floated to build the garage. Then large users like a bank or perhaps the American Public University System - which has 185 employees in town - might be interested in leasing spaces to help pay off the project, Rawlings said.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Six years after a transportation consultant presented strategies to improve parking in downtown Martinsburg, another firm is revisiting the topic and building on it - on paper. Proffitt & Associates Architects of Frederick, Md., is expected to provide civil engineering, architectural design and parking consulting work as part of a $79,200 parking garage study. "The consultant is still doing site evaluations as well as getting the financial information to also put together an estimate per site," City Manager Mark Baldwin said last week.

I bet it's happened to everybody once. Everybody, that is, who's parked a car in a multi-tiered garage. You come out of the theater, you walk out of the airport, happy after a nice evening or a nice trip, and you can't find your vehicle. I've done it more times than I'd like to admit, so for several years, I've been careful to mentally note - sometimes even to write down - the level and row of my parking space. I don't ever want to repeat the surreal experience I had in a Washington, D.C., parking garage a few years ago. My daughter, Maggie, her friend, his mom and I got tickets to "Les Miserables" at The National Theatre.

charlestown@herald-mail.com RANSON, W.Va. - It was not your typical police call. Cpl. Steve Cox of the Ranson Police Department said he responded Sunday to a parking garage at Charles Town Races & Slots after a woman reported seeing five deer falling from the top of the structure along Fifth Avenue. It is believed the deer might have become frightened after getting trapped in the garage and leaped from the top floor, Cox said. "They took the plunge," Cox said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Consultants told the Martinsburg City Council on Tuesday night that a 250-space downtown parking garage projected to cost about $4.8 million does not appear to be feasible given current economic conditions. The presentation of findings by three firms involved in the parking garage study came minutes after the council agreed to spend $550,000 on property to move ahead with another major capital improvement project - expansion of City Hall and the police station.

charlestown@herald-mail.com Despite concerns that the project could increase traffic, Jefferson County planners Tuesday night approved a site plan for a $25 million expansion of Charles Town Races & Slots. The Jefferson County Planning Commission unanimously approved a site plan that calls for an expansion of the track's parking garage and construction of new office space. A $54 million expansion at the track, completed last year, included construction of a 1,500-space parking garage.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - Think the latest attraction at Charles Town Races & Slots is impressive? Stay tuned. Track owners say they plan to build a large buffet at a cost of about $7 million and probably will build another parking garage at a cost of about $25 million. The track, which has nearly 4,500 slot machines, now has a 2,500-space parking garage. The ideal situation is to have a parking space for every slot machine, so track owners are looking to create more parking.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The Jefferson County Commission is considering about $21 million worth of building projects and one commissioner believes his colleagues need to start saving for them. Included in the list are a new judicial center that will cost about $14 million, a swimming pool for $3.9 million and a parking garage that will cost about $3 million. A new judicial center is needed for growing court operations and a parking garage is needed to provide parking for jury members and court workers, Commissioner Greg Corliss said.

Parking garage not only way to ease downtown congestion 1/22 Faced with a shortage of parking downtown, the Martinsburg, W.Va., City Council had considered building a parking garage, but backed off when the first estimate came back at $2 million-plus. There are other possibilities, however, that could add to the number of spaces available on the street. The parking garage estimate came from Brad Edwards of Edwards Neff, Inc., an Atlanta firm that's doing a parking study of the downtown area.

Track to seek county's OK to expand upward CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Before dirt can be turned for a planned $60 million expansion of Charles Town Races, track owners need to go before the Jefferson County Zoning Board of Appeals to get permission to construct buildings that are taller than county laws allow, according to track President Jim Buchanan. continued Owners of the Charles Town Races plan an expansion of the oval and gambling facility to include a new entertainment center, a 1,200-space parking garage and a hotel.

Meritus Health has begun the process to demolish the former Washington County Hospital on Antietam Street in Hagerstown. The health system's demolition contractor, Brandenburg Industrial Services Co. of Chicago, Ill., applied earlier this week for demolition permits from the city of Hagerstown, according to city officials. On Monday, Meritus is expected to issue a notice to proceed to the contractor, city officials said. Once permits from the state and city are obtained, actual demolition work is expected to begin in late March or early April, said James Hamill, Meritus president and chief executive officer.

Wareham Place, the alley that runs behind the County Administration Building on West Washington Street, will be closed through December due to construction of the county's new public transit system transfer center, according to county officials. Construction began July 26 on the transfer center project in the block bounded by North Prospect, West Franklin and Jonathan streets, and Wareham Place, county spokesman Norman Bassett said in a press release. During construction, the only access to the two small parking lots directly behind the County Administration Building on West Washington Street serving the County Commissioners, staff, tenants and Sovereign Bank will be from Jonathan Street, the release said.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- If a table games referendum is passed in Jefferson County next month, revenue from the games at Charles Town Races & Slots is being eyed as a potential funding source to help Shepherd University build a parking garage, officials said Friday. Jefferson County is scheduled to vote on the table games referendum Saturday, Dec. 5. Del. John Doyle, D-Jefferson, and state Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson/Berkeley, said in interviews last week they have urged West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin to support their efforts to identify a funding source for the university's parking garage project.

April Fool's fever strikes Annapolis Lawmakers in Annapolis took a break from serious issues last week to have a little April Fool's Day fun. On April 1, members of the state's House of Delegates pulled into their parking garage to find their name plates above their parking spaces had been swapped with a fellow delegate. The State House was not immune to the April Fool's fun. A sign was placed on the women's restroom stating that in an effort to conserve money in a sour economic climate, the Department of Legislative Services would be requiring everyone to bring in their own toilet paper.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Suzanne Shipley believes her greatest strength as president of Shepherd University lies in her ability to work with people. "I understand human relationships," she said, a quality that helps her work through everyday problems that face the leader of a 4,300-student university. She is in daily contact with students, faculty, administrators, politicians, alumnae, local officials and residents of Shepherdstown. She refers to her ability to communicate as one of "the large tools on my shelf.

Mohar, a serviceman for Columbia Gas, said he would serve as a "voice of the every-day guy. " He said he decided to run for council because he disagrees with some of the things it has spent money on and feels he could help the city save money. "That's my goal," he said. "Instead of hiring someone to tell us if we need another parking garage or not, I think we could probably do that in-house. " He said he feels the current council sometimes lacks respect for the residents it serves.

A greener hospital To the editor: After perusing the Winter 2009 version of the magazine Health Focus, I was intrigued by the article entitled "Helping Our Patients and Our Planet. " As a conservation biology major at the University of Maryland-College Park, I often notice with interest businesses that attempt to "go green. " I was initially impressed that Washington County Hospital was looking into environmentally-friendly methods during the building process of the new hospital, but was disappointed after actually reading the article.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Consultants told the Martinsburg City Council on Tuesday night that a 250-space downtown parking garage projected to cost about $4.8 million does not appear to be feasible given current economic conditions. The presentation of findings by three firms involved in the parking garage study came minutes after the council agreed to spend $550,000 on property to move ahead with another major capital improvement project - expansion of City Hall and the police station.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- The place is rockin' and there is little room to park. Shepherd University started classes Monday, flooding the small town of Shepherdstown with thousands of students. Streets that were quiet over the summer were transformed with students zipping up and down them in vehicles, some thumping out loud beats from stereos. As usual, the challenge was where to park them all. "Parking is horrible," Shepherd junior Karen Lutman said as she took a break on a bench along High Street Monday afternoon.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- The possibility of building a garage to deal with growing parking demands in downtown Charles Town was discussed Wednesday night during a meeting of council of governments, where local governments meet informally to discuss issues. Gary Rawlings, Charles Town's new city manager, said perhaps a revenue bond could be floated to build the garage. Then large users like a bank or perhaps the American Public University System - which has 185 employees in town - might be interested in leasing spaces to help pay off the project, Rawlings said.