In this occasional series, we try to inject some facts into wild and woolly rumors which float through town and social media. Since the opening of the new parking lot at West College and Grove Streets, there has been a lot of speculation about whether it will actually be public once Macado’s opens, whether the Town has been unfair to Macado’s by making the lot public, and whether there will be sufficient parking once Macado’s opens.
So let’s clear up some of the questions and misunderstandings with the Top 5 facts you need to know about the Grove-College parking lot.
- The lot is and will remain public and open to use by both Macado’s customers and patrons of other neighborhood businesses.
- The parking lot was designed and built in accordance with a contractual agreement with Macado’s. In the contract, the Town obtained the rear portion of the Macado’s property and agreed to create a public lot. Macado’s agreed to restore the historic Berlin Building for use as a restaurant with upstairs apartments. We see this as a win-win situation that will increase public parking for businesses including Macado’s in the Sipe Center neighborhood, beautify Main Street and one of our historic buildings, bring a new dining option to Town, and address stormwater runoff issues. (That’s actually a win-win-win-win!)
- As a part of the agreement, the Town has reserved five spots in the new lot for residents of the upstairs apartments.
- Almost half of the parking lot is on land that the Town already owned behind the Bridgewater Historical Society. This allowed the Town to build a larger lot than would have been possible for it or Macado’s to build on their respective lots alone. This is again a win-win for the Town and the business community.
- This will not completely solve our parking challenges, but it is a part of the solution. We will continue to work on this as opportunities arise. We are always looking for ways to improve things for our business community and to make a better life for our residents and visitors!