Parking garage, theater project in SLO’s downtown nearing City Council final decision
The decision on whether to approve a large parking structure and theater project at a 1.3-acre site on the corner of Palm and Nipomo streets in San Luis Obispo will come before the City Council on Tuesday.
The proposed project — located across the street from Mission Prep high school — calls for 404 parking spaces in a 50-foot-tall, 162,000-square-foot structure, according to a city staff report.
Additionally, the project proposes a new 42-foot-tall, 23,000-square-foot San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre building.
The project also proposes demolishing a historic adobe, the Heyd Adobe. That aspect has drawn concern from some local historians, including James Papp, an architectural historian and former chair of San Luis Obispo’s Cultural Heritage Committee.
Papp wrote in a Tribune viewpoint that “an undemolished Heyd could provide history, housing and environmental inspiration.”
The planning for a parking structure has existed in city documents dating to 2003, and has gone through multiple reviews by the city’s advisory bodies over the past few years.
But city officials say that retaining the adobe or moving it would delay the parking project and add extra costs.
“The preservation of the Heyd Adobe (on site) makes the proposed parking structure and SLO Rep Theatre as currently designed totally infeasible,” the city staff report stated. “Changing the design to accommodate the Heyd Adobe on site would likely delay the project for a year and the city and SLO Rep would incur substantial redesign costs.”
Parking structure would serve downtown visitors, residents
The parking structure would help serve downtown visitors, answering a call from many business owners to provide more downtown parking.
The structure also could serve current and future residents who live in the downtown with overnight parking, according to the city staff report.
“The new parking structure is consistent with the policies for providing parking within the downtown and promoting more efficient use of private and public spaces,” the staff report states.
Similar to other downtown parking garages, the structure would be available 24 hours per day, with the first 60 minutes of parking free, followed by $1.25 per hour charge each hour thereafter.
Parking rates for the structure would apply 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
A total cost of the parking structure project is anticipated to be calculated sometime this week, with the bulk of the construction funds expected to come from debt financing, according to city officials.
SLO Repertory Theatre to replace ‘outdated’ building
The new theater would be funded separately by the nonprofit San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre, which has evolved from a company working largely with local volunteers to a professional entity that brings in paid actors and directors from across the country, Kevin Harris told The Tribune in 2017.
“Our No. 1 goal now is for people to recognize that this theater is more of an economic driver than any other arts organization in town,” Harris said then. “Once people understand what it is that we do here then I think it will change how they see our plays.”
The city received several letters from community members who support the arts advocating for the new theater.
“As a longtime arts professional, I’m especially interested in SLO Rep’s opportunity to build a state-of-the-art theatre,” wrote Steve Lerian, Cal Poly Arts director. “The company has made great strides over the past decade in its transformation from a well-respected community theatre to a popular professional repertory company.”
Lerian added the “only thing standing in their path to reaching even greater heights is the current outdated facility” at 888 Morro St. near city hall.
The San Luis Obispo City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Council Chambers, 990 Palm St.
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 3:36 PM.
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