Let’s Talk Parking at Parkview Field
WANE TV provides basic info and a quick spin around the Harrison Square parking garage.
The video shows how to pay for parking at a TinCaps game as paying the kiosk when leaving, however, the same page from wane.com also states:
“Special event parking will be $4 and collected when vehicles enter the garage.”
So, if a TinCaps game is a “special event” will you pay when you leave as in the video or pay when you enter as stated in the article? My guess is that the kiosk will be the primary format for all events.
Also, the video states that the “monthly parking” area on the upper floors is only for Lincoln Financial employees, while in actuality, the entire parking garage is available after 5 pm and on weekends (when most TinCaps games will occur).
Want the secret to parking at a TinCaps game?
Don’t use the parking garage.
Downtown on-street parking is FREE nights and weekends.
Most TinCaps games are also nights and weekends.
Park at a free metered space downtown, maybe on Wayne, Berry or Harrison. The Downtown Improvement District online parking map is a nice tool if you aren’t familiar with the area.
Spend the $4.00 you saved from parking on some coney dogs at Coney Island, a slice at 816, or a pint at J.K. O’Donnells on your way to the game or afterwards.
At Memorial Stadium, we all had no choice on parking. You had to have a car and you had to pay for it.
Think about how many times you ever saw someone walk across Coliseum Blvd or ride a bike to Memorial Stadium over the past 15 years (oh wait, here’s a video). The level of pedestrian traffic heading to Parkview Field on opening night alone will not only surpass that number but you can save your 4 bucks for a hot dog or some popcorn when you get to Parkview Field.
Don’t forget that you can also just walk or bike to Parkview Field for free or get an all day pass for Citilink for $3.00 and not have to worry about finding a space or even driving, for that matter.
Of course you’ll need an extra dollar for that pint at JKO’s. Sorry, this is off topic, but is really too much to ask to have a daily or weekly special at JKO’s every once in a while?
Again, we’ll be walking. Also, LOVE the Frogger video!
And Jeff, when you have a near monopoly on a certain type of product, you don’t really have to give it away.
I remember many years ago going to a public meeting regarding downtown planning and one of the guest speakers was from Dayton. She was talking about the success of the (then) new downtown ballpark there.
At one point someone asked about parking and she said they had decided Not to build a parking garage nearby. There was an audible gasp from the audience, and even laughter, as if to say, “you fools, Dayton. How could you not include a parking garage?”
Then she explained that there was plenty of parking within a certain block radius of the ballpark and that they Wanted people to be walking to the games; and that, sure enough, businesses started sprouting up along some of the streets that thousands of people were now walking down.
So, yeah, as Mr. Spaulding said, save your $4. Walk to the park. Then go to the Pub. Or Henry’s. Or the Oyster Bar. Etc. Hopefully in the next couple years some other business people will say “there’s enough activity downtown now that I want to open up (fill in the blank).” Then we’re really getting somewhere.
What i find is odd, is this “fully automated” parking garage says that “Special event parking will be $4 and collected when vehicles enter the garage.” – BUT there is nothing to collect money as you ENTER the garage, so they will have someone there collecting money?
Either way… there are still massive surface lots that Lincoln owns surrounding the field, so if the game is at night…..
Or you can also become friends with someone that works at lincoln that gets free parking 24/7/365 in the garage.
Personally, i feel it isnt that hard to get to the field from the greenway paths either.
@Steve Good point about Dayton. Scott and I visited their ballpark when we first heard rumors of a possible downtown Ft Wayne park and experienced Dayton’s parking strategy firsthand. It worked out well. We saw parts of Dayton we would have otherwise never seen and that’s when we first realized that same model should work in Fort Wayne as well. (I can just imagine the gasps from the Fort Wayne crowd at the meeting you mentioned).
If the majority of fans drive into the garage, watch the game and drive straight back to the ‘burbs then the Harrison Square project will not take part in creating the pedestrian atmosphere and energy that many hope for.
@Eric. I agree about the automated parking and that’s point I was raising by showing the Wane story demonstrated how to pay via the machine at exit and also stated $4 will be collected at the entrance. I guess we’ll all find out come next Thursday.
Personally, I’ll be at a ton of TinCaps games this summer and plan to never park in the garage.
I look forward to biking to games throughout the season which was difficult at Memorial Stadium.
The parking garage was NEVER needed except to allow Lincoln to acquire a covered parking area for employees without having to invest a penny (you’re welcome, Lincoln). The city has been losing money every year on it’s existing parking garages – so it will continue with the new one – personally, I’ll park in our church lot and walk to Parkview Field.
Wait a minute.
Where are all the Applebee’s patrons going to park ???
What are they going to do when four floors of Applebees connoisseurs want to get liquored up on Bahama Mamas and can’t find a parking spot?
Doesn’t look good.
John, The only reason why Lincoln employees get to park there is for the fact that they took our surface parking lots away! We were perfectly fine with those before. In fact I feel that the garage is a pain in my rear. It requires the employees to go through 2 gates each way and drive up and around 4 floors each way, before they can get to their parking spots. It is VERY time consuming compared to the surface lots that we had prior.
Remember, Lincoln still has one of their own parking garages also, which I never chose to park in.
Most important to remember…. Lincoln still has enough employees downtown to need as much parking as they do.
Also… isn’t there just about enough space left at the SW corner of Jefferson and Harrison to put the Belmont’s back where it was? LOL
ha! without a hotel, we could put a lot in that space. A belmont, a brazilian steakhouse, a new york style pizza place…. tons of options! :)
Eric – “They” didn’t take your surface parking lots away – Lincoln management gave them away!! And if the overall plans for Harrison Square do go through someday, the other surface lots will also be gone – Actually, the city Redevelopment Commission owns all the surface lots from Webster to the west now. If a majority of Lincoln employees , like you, refuse to use the new parking garage and we never get a new hotel, WHAT THE HECK IS THE PARKING GARAGE GOING TO BE USED FOR??? The existing city-owned garare at Jefferson,Calhoun,Washington and Clinton is NEVER full now -and is losing money – just like most city run businesses! But, I guess that’s Fort Wayne dreaming again.
We didnt just give them away.. and your right, they didnt just take them either. It was a trade off. We gave the empty lots in return we got from the 3rd floor and up in the garage.
And I never said that i dont use the H square garage, I said I never used the Lincoln. I do use the HS garage and I can tell you that on an average day Lincoln fills up the entire 3rd and 4th floor, and a portion of the 5th. So nearly all of the spaces that we have offered, we use.
When you say that the city owns “all of the surface lots” west of Webster, that is only one smaller one at the SW corner of webster and brackenridge(that Lincoln has always had) and the recent one the city built at McClelllan and Brackenridge(also SW corner). Lincoln still has 7 surface lots of various sizes and the Lincoln parking garage. Even after the latest cutbacks, we still come close to filling most of the all of the lots we have offered.
“… personally, I’ll park in our church lot and walk to Parkview Field.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t churches get a pass on property taxes for their parking lots? What about when they use them for paid parking during the week?
Great question, Robert! I’d love to have that addressed by a church rep responsible for charging for event parking.
Robert & Scott – If a church charges for parking during the week, I would think that that lot would not be exempt from property taxes. Just like if a church owns property that is leased to a profit-making company – it’s not property tax exempt. By the way, the church that we attend does not charge for parking at any time, but parking is restricted to members.