Georgetown’s first city parking garage — located at the corner of Main Street and Sixth Street — opened to the public on November 21, bringing more than 300 additional parking spaces to the Square.
“This is the community’s garage, not city council’s, not staffs, not [the Historic Architecture Review Commission’s],” Mayor Josh Schroeder said. “The entire community has their fingerprints on this garage, and we truly appreciate that.”
The project broke ground on March 26, 2024, with work done by engineering firm WGI and construction firm Swinerton.
It cost $19.8 million to build the project, with funds coming from the American Rescue Plan Act grant and funds from the downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.
“We appreciate all of you who come down here and spend money on our downtown Square,” Mr. Schroeder said. “That sales tax revenue, those of you who have invested your hard earned capital into the buildings down here, those property tax dollars help pay for this garage.”
The bottom floor of the garage has 5,000 square feet of commercial space that houses the city’s Downtown and Tourism Department. Parking will be free and will feature red or green lights above the parking spaces to show which are open or occupied.
“I see it as a practical way to take some of the pressure off the on-street parking around the Square and in Old Town, [Track-Ridge-Grasshopper] and my neighborhood,” said Jen Bradoc, a representative from the North Old Town neighborhood. “Having more parking in one central spot means people can park once and then walk, instead of circling blocks or spilling into residential streets. That supports the kind of downtown experience we say we want: easier to navigate, more walkable and more inviting for residents and visitors.”
Mr. Schroeder has said this is just the first parking garage for downtown Georgetown. Plans for the second parking garage that could be built in the current Red Poppy Lot are in the works. The city is working on a garage agreement with the Texas Municipal League’s Risk Pool, which is relocating to Georgetown in the coming year.
An aspect of the parking garage is two art installations, a mural and a metal statue, done by artist ARCY and Georgetown artist Pascale Pryor, respectively. Both pieces include longhorn steers to honor the city’s history on the Chisholm Trail.
At the ribbon cutting, the mayor, who graduated from the University of Texas, joked about the “conspiracy” about making a Longhorn statue to get a rise out of the Aggies in the city.
“First of all, this entire county is flooded with Aggies. So it’s about time the Longhorns get some recognition. We need all the help we can get this year with football season going how it’s going,” he said. “It was only brought to my attention by all my Aggie law partners, who are going to have to look at that [longhorn statue] every single day and have it remind them of the University of Texas. So that’s just an added bonus for us, but it was not intentional.”
Swinerton Manager Allison Sott, said this project reminds them of why they love to do what they do.
“The Georgetown team brought trust, clarity, kindness and a level of sophistication that made the experience not just successful, but genuinely enjoyable,” she said. “When a client is decisive and collaborative, it elevates the work. We felt that every step of the way, our project team had fun on this job.”