No Free Parking At Arena New Deal Offers Shuttle, Parking Privileges To Downtown Workers For $22 A Month

Now there’s a better way to get downtown, Spokane Transit Authority fliers announce.

But “better” only means “more expensive” for early-risers who use STA’s shuttle between the Spokane Arena and their jobs downtown.

Free Arena parking that shrank from about 600 spaces to 300 in 1995 will disappear altogether as of Jan. 1. Parking will cost $2 for commuters (parking for Arena events will remain at $3). The 25-cent fee for a one-way shuttle ride will not change.

Daily commuters will be able to buy a “City Ticket” that includes parking and shuttle rides for $22 a month (week days only). For commuters who work five days a week, that’s a 100 percent increase.

Despite the claims on the STA flier, the shuttle service isn’t changing at all, other than the rate hike.

The increase results from negotiations between STA, Diamond Parking, the Downtown Spokane Partnership and the Public Facilities District, which controls the Arena.

“It’s a pretty good deal to be able to park on that facility that’s well-lit and maintained and solve your parking problems for $22 a month,” said Dan Geiger, Spokane manager for Diamond Parking, which runs the lot for the Arena.”

Some commuters losing out on the free parking are angry. They learned of the change this week, when STA started circulating the fliers.

“I guess they figure that they’ve got us,” said Pam Arnold, a paralegal and daily shuttle rider. “That’s the only place we can park and catch the shuttle.”

STA, which gets $10.50 of the $22 monthly fee, was a reluctant participant, said agency spokeswoman Teresa Stuekle.

“We are not happy with having lost the 300 (free) spots,” she said.

Before the Spokane Arena replaced the city-owned Coliseum in 1995, daytime commuters could park free until the lot was full. The Arena brought lighting and other improvements to the lot, so the Public Facilities Board wanted to charge for commuter parking.

Stuekle said STA fought back, citing a state Department of Ecology mandate that the city of Spokane provide a “clean-air lot” with at least 300 free parking spaces at the Coliseum. The idea was to cut carbon monoxide downtown in the 1970s.

In 1995, the Public Facilities District reduced the number of free spaces to 300, available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Anyone arriving later than 8 a.m. can’t get one most mornings, said Geiger.

Late-comers pay $2, and often grumble about the inequity to the parking attendants.

The system isn’t working, especially for retail clerks who typically start their shifts later than office workers, said Russ Nobbs, owner of Rings & Things jewelry store.

“If you happened to work at 10 o’clock, it isn’t fair,” he said.

Recently, Stuekle said, the Public Facilities Board asked to see a copy of the Ecology Department mandate from the 1970s.

Since then, “we have done all kinds of research,” Stuekle said. “This document is even referred to in city papers, but the document itself cannot be found” either by STA, the city or the Ecology Department.

With no proof of the Ecology Department mandate, the Public Facilities District can eliminate the free parking.

Jim Ray, former chairman of the public facilities board, said the agency had no desire to do so. Rather, he said, the board was accommodating a request from downtown businesses to provide more parking.

“This was not the Arena’s idea. We were doing this whole thing in the spirit of cooperation,” said Ray, adding that the district has an obligation to recoup the money it spends on parking lots.

But the new system doesn’t provide more parking. And Kevin Twohig, the Arena’s general manager, said the Arena has always intended to charge for parking.

“We talked about doing this when we opened,” he said. “We were too busy, had too many irons in the fire” to get it done until now.

Nobbs and other downtown business leaders support the $22 monthly passes but think the daily parking should be $1.

At $2, plus 50 cents for round-trip shuttle rides, a worker might as well park downtown, said Tom Best, regional operations manager for The Bon Marche. Covered parking in the Parkade is $3.50 a day, and many merchants will cover part of the cost for customers.

Twohig acknowledges that the new system isn’t perfect. “But it’s much fairer than it was.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PRICE INCREASE The change in price for parking at the Spokane Arena will be effective Jan. 1.