| Overview: |
This 6-story parking garage provides parking spaces for 1042
vehicles for the Town of Bel Air. Founded on concrete caissons,
this brick veneer, precast concrete structure is the largest
in the Town of Bel Air. Built on a 1.4 acre site, the structure
encompasses 290,182 square feet. Forty million pounds of concrete
were used to construct the garage - the equivalent of more
than 40 miles of four-foot wide sidewalks. The brick facade
reflects the Town's Old Court House and other buildings in
the area. The structure provides public parking through either
short term metered spaces or long term leased space. Internally,
the garage features a "double helix" ramp design
that prevents cars from going in opposite directions on the
same ramp.
When the town of Bel Air, Maryland recognized that structured
parking was an absolute necessity to keep in-town businesses
viable, they hired Schafer. For this project, Schafer provided
complete design-build services as well as coordinated the
sale of bonds for funding. In the words of the Town's Director
of Planning, they chose Schafer because of their design's
"overall attractiveness and sensitivity to the architectural
context of the area." The Director went on to say that
Schafer "was able to provide a financial package adapted
to the unique requirements of a Town/County joint venture
project
which the Schafer team provided with the expertise
necessary to guide us through the process." The 1042
space parking garage was completed ahead of schedule and within
the town's budget.
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