Ferndale looks into building parking garage downtown

Vertical parking could be on its way to downtown Ferndale as city officials explore the possibility of building a parking deck on the southeast corner of Woodward Avenue and 9 Mile Road.

The city recently hired the parking-consultant firm Carl Walker to conduct feasibility study on building the parking deck. Ferndale wants to add about 200-250 parking spaces to downtown to accommodate immediate demand (about 150) and future growth (50-100).

The city is currently looking at building the deck on the surface parking lots on either side of the Ferndale Public Library and on the parking lots behind Woodward Avenue Brewers.

Ferndale paid Carl Walker $8,400 for the study. The Kalamazoo-based firm has designed and built a number of parking garages in the Midwest, including the Forest Avenue Garage in Ann Arbor and the Marriott deck in Grand Rapids.

Source: Robert Bruner, city manager for Ferndale
Writer: Jon Zemke
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