FORT WORTH -- The $5 flat fee for parking in the Cultural District, imposed by the city in 2010 and blamed by museums for slumping attendance, appears to be on its way out.
The City Council is set to vote today on a plan to lease a 200-car lot at 1600 Gendy St. to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. The museum would set a parking rate, take over the cost of operations, improvements and maintenance, and would keep any revenue.The museum would make the lot available to visitors to the neighboring National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, Fort Worth Community Arts Center and the Cattle Raisers Museum, housed in the science museum.The science museum is working on a plan to offer discounted or free parking to members."We will still likely need to charge for nonmembers" to park, Bill Bleibdrey, chief administrative officer for the science museum, said.And next week, the council is scheduled to vote on a variable rate structure for the Western Heritage garage and other lots around the Will Rogers Memorial Complex that would replace the $5 flat rate. The proposed rates would start at 45 minutes free, max out at $10 for four hours or more, and include special flat fees for the most popular events, such as gun and craft shows.Bleibdrey said the lack of free parking has been visitors' most frequent criticism since the museum opened in 2009."Many people didn't realize the parking was city-owned," he said. "They thought it was museum-owned, and they didn't appreciate having to pay to park."Craig Schaefer, the cowgirl museum's associate executive director, said a parking arrangement with the science museum would remove a significant impediment to membership."The key for us is to not have our members shell out any money," he said.The cowgirl museum estimates that membership revenue dropped 30 percent from 2009 to 2011, gift shop sales were down 14 percent, and visitor traffic was off 20 percent, excluding free admission during the annual three-week Fort Worth Stock Show.Lease proposalUnder the proposal, the museum would lease the parking lot -- bounded by Harley, Montgomery and Gendy streets -- for $12,000 a year through Sept. 30, 2042, with no rent increases.Councilman Dennis Shingleton, whose district includes the Cultural District, said that is significantly below market value.He hopes the new arrangement improves visitor traffic and the museums' health."Hopefully, this will enhance the whole picture," Shingleton said.Bleibdrey said the museum is still working on the parking rate structure but that it "will be the same for all four" places.The science and cowgirl museums offer a joint membership. Community Arts Center patrons usually park in the city's Western Heritage garage next door and not typically as far south as the science museum lot, Bleibdrey said. The cowgirl museum will chip in on the parking lot agreement, but the science museum probably won't ask the Community Arts Center for funds, he said.The new lot rates could take effect about Oct. 1, Bleibdrey said. The museum will use its own employees to staff the parking lot and isn't looking to turn it into a big money-maker in itself, he said."We hope to break even on it," he said.The council is also under pressure from arts groups facing a proposed cut in the 2013 budget to the Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, which follows other cuts in recent years."We're reducing funding for a lot of the arts components," said Doug Wiersig, the city's transportation and public works director, which is responsible for the city's parking. "If [arts groups] can look at this as a way to maximize return for them, there's probably less pressure on the city to provide support for the arts."Variable ratesThe proposed variable rates for the Will Rogers lots and Western Heritage garage would raise an estimated $427,000 more a year in revenue, city staff estimates. The money would go to pay the debt on the garage, which the city built to expand Stock Show capacity and for which it borrowed $27.1 million. The $5 parking fee isn't covering the debt and operating expenses, Wiersig said.Under the variable structure, 45 minutes to one hour would cost $3; one-two hours, $5; two-three hours, $7; and three-four hours, $9.The city would decide flat rates for the most popular events based on its market assessment, Wiersig said. The Stock Show controls the facility during its run, and its $8 daily rate will remain in place, he said.Carlo Capua, owner of Z's Cafe in the Community Arts Center, favors the change in the parking fees because most of his customers stay 45 minutes to an hour.His restaurant opened there in 2009. And "since the advent of city [fee] parking, our walk-in business has dropped 90 percent."He took the step of validating parking for guests who parked in the Western Heritage garage, costing the restaurant $2 per customer, but the bad publicity over the $5 parking fee stuck."It's had a very, very negative effect on our lunch business," he said.Z's Cafe hires residents of the nonprofit Samaritan House in Fort Worth to staff the restaurant, and the sales drop "had a negative effect on that program as well," Capua said.Scott Nishimura,817- 390-7808Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
