Hiawatha Gardens: Parking Structure Feasibility


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... iii

Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1

Background & Context ................................................................................................ 1

Existing Conditions ..................................................................................................... 2

Land Use .................................................................................................................. 3

Existing Parking Overview ........................................................................................ 7

Needs & Feasibility Assessment ................................................................................... 8

Parking Structure Concepts ...................................................................................... 8

Surface Parking Concepts ....................................................................................... 11

Opinion of Probable Cost ........................................................................................ 13

Additional Considerations .......................................................................................... 15

Design Requirements .............................................................................................. 15

Americans With Disabilities ................................................................................. 15

Lighting ............................................................................................................... 16

Zoning ................................................................................................................. 16

Stormwater .......................................................................................................... 16

Geological Soils ................................................................................................... 16

Functional Consideration ....................................................................................... 17

Special Events ..................................................................................................... 17

Traffic Circulation ............................................................................................... 17

Multimodal Connectivity ...................................................................................... 19

Wayfinding .......................................................................................................... 20

Funding .................................................................................................................. 22

Potential Sources ................................................................................................. 22

Parking Revenues ................................................................................................ 22

Design Elements and Options ................................................................................. 25

Green Walls ......................................................................................................... 25

Green Roofs ......................................................................................................... 26

Exterior Facade ................................................................................................... 27

Interface between Buildings ................................................................................. 28

Water Quality Options ......................................................................................... 29

Automated & Alternative Parking Structure ......................................................... 30


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Bike Lockers, Bike Share, & Electric Shared Scooters ......................................... 31

Celebrate the COG RR ......................................................................................... 32

Manitou Springs Character ................................................................................. 33

Functional and Aesthetic Example ......................................................................... 34

Example 1: Two Story Structure over Existing Lot with Complete Hiawatha

Gardens Building ................................................................................................ 35

Example 1: Second View from Memorial Park ...................................................... 36

Example 2: Structure without North Portion of Hiawatha Gardens Building ........ 37

Plaza Details ........................................................................................................ 38

Green Wall Details ............................................................................................... 39


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Acknowledgements

This study was completed with the guidance and advice of the Hiawatha Gardens

Planning Team.

Citizen Volunteers:

• Neale Minch

• Ann Nichols

• Dan Stuart

City Staff:

• Laura Neumann

• Malcolm Fleming

• Shelley Cobau

• Meghan Weiss

• Alicia Stoke

• Michael Davenport

City Officials:

• Mayor, Ken Jaray

• Mayor Pro-Tem, Nancy Fortuin

Professional Partners:

• Kimley Horn, Project Manager, Ted Ritschard

o Kyle McLaughlin, Analyst

o Kevin Kofford, Analyst

o Christina Jones, Parking Planner

o Blake Hodge, Parking Structures

o Dave Thorp, Design Visualization

• UCCS Public Affairs, Community Engagement, Robert Wonnett

• Echo Architecture, Ryan Lloyd


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Introduction

Manitou Springs has requested that Kimley-Horn explore the feasibility of building a

parking structure on the Hiawatha Gardens parcel located at 10 Old Man’s Trail

within the City of Manitou Springs, CO. Kimley-Horn was tasked with evaluating the

feasibility of constructing a parking structure on the site while taking into account

traffic, land use, Plan Manitou, as well as other considerations such as transit needs

and adaptive re-use. This report gives guidance for project needs, concerns, and

recommendations as well as a conceptual design and preliminary opinion of probable

cost for a parking structure.

Background & Context

As Manitou Springs has grown as a city, the core economic draw for the city has

remained tourism related to the natural beauty and feats of man on the mountain

side. Tourism places unique demands on city amenities and services including

increased vehicle traffic and parking needs. The City of Manitou Springs has existed

since before it was incorporated in 1871 and much of the transportation

infrastructure was set in place at the time when personal automobiles were becoming

so commonplace. Due to the hilly nature of the terrain, redevelopment and thus

realignment and addition of transportation infrastructure has remained an onerous

task within the city. For this reason, much of the tourist draw, which reaches into the

hundreds of thousands per year, is concentrated on just a few streets throughout the

city. With limited space and increasing demand, the city is trying to improve the

quality of lives for its residents while not diminishing the availability and viability of

tourist attractions to the people who come from around the world, as they are a major

economic driver for Manitou Springs. Figure 1 shows an aerial view of Manitou

Springs and the Hiawatha Gardens parcels site location.


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Existing Conditions

The Hiawatha Gardens site is adjacent to Memorial Park east of the City Hall. This

area is a natural gathering area for the community. It includes additional attractions

including parks, playgrounds, streamside trails, commercial destinations, and serves

as a critical transit connecting point. When considered together with City Hall,

Memorial Park, and other features, this area serves as a functional civic center to

complement the commercial downtown.

The location is also separated from the main commercial corridor of Manitou Avenue

by Fountain Creek and a visual wall of riparian trees. However, the site is adjacent to

important transportation connections to the US24 highway via Washington Avenue

and the Sunshine Trail. Planned improvements to the connecting trail system include

the Creek Walk. Transit stops on Old Man’s Trail in front of the historic Hiawatha

Gardens building serve as connecting points for transit riders from downtown

Colorado Springs to shuttle riders headed for Manitou Avenue Downtown businesses

as well as the Iron Springs Chateau, Incline, and Cog Railroad at the top of Ruxton

Avenue.

FIGURE 1:MANITOU SPRINGS & SITE LOCATION


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Land Use The Hiawatha Gardens parcels currently have a historic building standing on the

western side. This building has historical features such as a vaulted ceiling dance hall,

and will be discussed more in the following section. The eastern portion of the parcel

is covered by a free surface paved parking lot. This parking lot provides spaces for

local businesses, park, and transit services. The lots are currently zoned as

commercial and partially located in a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

floodplain.

Manitou Springs municipal code details that Commercial zoning allows for many types

of development to occur. The Commercial zone’s definition clearly states that the

intent is to provide essential and regionally oriented services, however it does not

explicitly allow for a parking structure to be constructed by right. Current pertinent

Zoning development standards for building setbacks and height restrictions can be

seen in Table 1 including the Commercial zoning (C), the Downtown zoning (DWTN),

Open Space (OS), Park (PK), Public Facilities (PF), and Redevelopment Overlay (RO).

Table 1 shows that the Commercial zone allows for 35-foot height, with an exception,

footnote a, made for “stepped” rooflines of nearby buildings which allows for an

additional 5 foot.


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Land uses around the Hiawatha Gardens parcels include an array of the city’s options

including parks, commercial and residential. Figure 2 provides the land use context

surrounding the parcels. Fountain Creek is a primary physical constraint that runs

along the south side of the parcels.

TABLE 1: MANITOU SPRINGS ZONING DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS

STANDARDS DWTN C OS PK PF RO

Minimum lot size N/A N/A c d d N/A

Residential density n See Section 18.08.050 15 du/ac

N/A N/A N/A 15 du/a n

(B)(40)

Minimum lot frontage 25 ft. 50 ft. N/A N/A N/A 50 ft.

Maximum building height i

40 ft. 35 ft. a 15 ft. 25 ft.

30 ft. e

35 ft. a/n

Maximum lot coverage 100% 75% N/A N/A 75% 75%

Minimum setbacks b

Front — Permanent 0 ft. 10 ft. N/A N/A 10 ft. 10 ft. n

Front — Temporary 0 ft. 10 ft. N/A N/A 10 ft. 10 ft.

Side — Permanent 0 ft. 5 ft. N/A N/A 5 ft. 5 ft. n

Side—Temporary 0 ft. 5 ft. N/A N/A 5 ft.

Rear — Permanent 0 ft. 10 ft. N/A N/A 10 ft. 10 ft. n

Rear — Temporary 0 ft. 0 ft. N/A N/A 10 ft. 10 ft.

Maximum Front Setbacks

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

https://library.municode.com/co/manitou_springs/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT18ZO_CH18.08SPZODE_18.08.050DO


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The FEMA maps which detail the floodplain locations are called Flood Insurance Rate

Maps (FIRM), the most current map of the area is attached in the Appendix and shows

that these parcels are partially contained in what is called Zone AE. This zone

designation means that the elevation of the ground is below the Base Flood Elevation

(BFE) and will likely be flooded by a 1% chance, or 100-year flood. The city has

undertaken major improvement projects that are aimed at mitigating the effects of

major rain events city and area-wide, which are estimated at over $18 Million in

improvements total. Figure 3 shows the current FEMA floodplain for the parcels as

shown by the City of Manitou Springs. As an important note, during the time of this

report, the city has undergone a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) process on the

upstream waterways which may impact the floodplain on these parcels.

The impacts that a parking structure would have on the floodplain will be greatly

influenced by the overall footprint of the structure and percentage of the building

within the floodplain, height relative to the BFE, as well as other factors. While it is

understood that there are a range of structure potential solutions that would require

the city to obtain flood insurance on the building, it is outside the scope of this report

to determine the specifics of these requirements.

FIGURE 2: HIAWATHA GARDENS LAND USE CONTEXT


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FIGURE 3: HIAWATHA GARDENS PARCELS FLOODPLAIN

The existing Hiawatha Gardens building located on the eastern portion of the parcels

has played a unique role in the consideration of these parcels to be the site of a

parking structure. The city has expressed interest and commissioned other efforts to

reuse the building. While outside of the scope of this project, Kimley-Horn has taken

consideration of the existing building and how the future reuse would interact with a

new parking structure including façade decisions and interconnectivity of the

buildings. The knowledge that the Hiawatha Gardens building has some historical

sections also plays a large role in the allowable footprint of any proposed parking

structure. A report completed by Echo Architecture in 2016 detailed the conditions

and other aspects of the building including area and year built, as shown in Figure 4.


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Existing Parking Overview With the existing paved parking lot wrapping around three sides of the Hiawatha

Gardens building, there are 155 free parking stalls. These include 11 stalls dedicated

to accessible parking, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), located

on the west side of the lot and nearest to the current bus routes. There are 14 stalls

for which the city has an agreement with the Sun Water Garden Spa, LLC. The

business leases this parking from the city on an annual, auto renewing contract. Most

of the other 130 general parking stalls are east of the Hiawatha Gardens building

except for 11 spots along the west side.

The paved parking lot is advertised as free parking for the town and serves as a type of

park and ride for the city’s bus service, which will be discussed further in the transit

section of this report. On-street parking is allowed along much of El Paso Boulevard,

which services Memorial Park, Seven Minute Spring Park as well as the surrounding

businesses and residents. There is currently striped parking adjacent to the parks.

This on-street parking provides overflow for downtown Manitou Springs during high

demand times and event days, particularly when the parking along Manitou Avenue is

restricted.

FIGURE 4: EXISTING BUILDING SECTIONS, CREDIT ECHO ARCHITECTURE


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Needs & Feasibility Assessment

As Kimley-Horn has worked through the available information from multiple sources

and the City of Manitou Springs has provided information and context for this project,

the following assumptions were made or determined.

Through conversations with the City of Manitou Springs, a range of six (6) different

concept layouts were explored for the Hiawatha Gardens site. These options are the

result of an iterative process completed by Kimley-Horn and the working committee

appointed by the City. Four of these concepts are parking structure designs, shown in

Figure 5 through Figure 8.

Parking Structure Concepts The first concept shown, Figure 5, was the first massing diagram provided to the

working group which gave a representation of the scale and placement of the potential

structure. The determination was that this height and scale of building is likely too

large for the context of Hiawatha Gardens. This reaction led directly to the two-story

concept shown in Figure 6 which has a level removed. This has been determined as

one of the most preferred alternatives thus has been further visualized by the Kimley-

Horn team. There is also another concept that is a subsidiary of the Two-Story with

Existing Building which shows only the most historical part of the existing building

being kept and an open space or plaza in place of the north portion of the building.

This option would allow for many different uses of that space including an outdoor

amphitheater, even park, or some other type of aesthetic improvements.

The last structure concept included as a structure is an option where the footprint of

the parking structure encompasses both parcels, the whole Hiawatha Gardens site.

This option provides as many spaces as possible as close to existing grade as possible

and would be a desired alternative if it were decided that the existing building cannot

be utilized.

Additionally, the City of Manitou Springs requested that consideration be made for

Autonomous parking structures as a potential solution. There are design

considerations later in this report that provide examples of this type of structure,

however further analysis was not conducted on this subject. It was determined that

these solutions, while possible, would not be preferred alternatives due to the following

factors. Typically, automated parking structures are implemented in locations where

land values are prohibitive of obtaining space for the structure, Manitou Springs does

not have this problem given that the city already owns the properties. With the

anticipated use of parking for the COG railroad, the peak use times may be

problematic for automated parking when there are a high number of users attempting

to retrieve and/or deposit their vehicles at the same time. Fountain Creek also poses a

threat to an automated parking structure where flooding would require even further

scrutiny for the electrical systems utilized within the structure for the lifts and

computer mechanical equipment. Lastly, the costs of automated parking structures

are typically a significant amount higher than traditional parking garages.


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FIGURE 5: CONCEPT #1 THREE-STORY WITH BUILDING

FIGURE 6: CONCEPT #2 TWO-STORY WITH BUILDING


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FIGURE 7: CONCEPT #3 TWO-STORY WITH OPEN SPACE

FIGURE 8: CONCEPT #4 FULL SITE TWO-STORY


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Surface Parking Concepts The City of Manitou Springs also requested that Kimley-Horn inspect what the

Hiawatha Gardens parcels could look like if a parking structure was not deemed to be

the preferred alternative. Echo Architecture looked at preliminary site layouts for

updating the surface parking lot in their report from August 2016, shown in Figure 9.

This layout shows the parcels as a fully rebuilt parking lot with removal of the existing

building. Echo Architecture also produced a layout for reconfiguration with keeping

the existing building which resulted in 149 stalls, as shown in Figure 10. Both

options show a row of 6 parking stalls dedicated to Recreational Vehicles (RVs). The

inclusion of RV parking is not considered as part of the parking structure analysis due

to the height requirements for RV clearances.


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FIGURE 9: CONCEPT #5 PARKING LOT WITH RESTROOMS ONLY, CREDIT ECHO

ARCHITECTURE

FIGURE 10: CONCEPT #6 PARKING LOT WITH EXISTING STRUCTURE, CREDIT ECHO

ARCHITECTURE


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Opinion of Probable Cost As a part of this feasibility study, Kimley-Horn was tasked with determining

preliminary Opinion of Probable Costs (OPC) for the concepts produced. These OPCs

are the result of the physical dimensions of the parking structure and the number of

parking spaces provided. The OPC also does not account for the cost of any demolition

of existing buildings, right-of-way acquisition, or other construction costs that aren’t

directly tied to the design and building of a parking structure.

Figure 11 shows the break down OPC for Option 1, which is the most expensive of the

concept designs. The OPC for the other 5 options are in the Appendix at the end of

this report.

The following table compares the costs and benefits identified in the OPC for each

concept. This comparison provides information on total costs for the parking

improvement, the cost per stall provided, and the cost per new stall.

TABLE 2: CONCEPT COST COMPARISON

Concept #

Concept Name

Parking Stalls

New Stalls

Total Square

Feet

Efficiency Cost Cost per Stall

Cost per New Stall

1 Three-Story with

Existing Building

379 227 132,160 349 $ 11,127,519 $ 29,360 $ 49,020

2 Two-Story with

Existing Building

283 131 98,690 349 $ 8,008,534 $ 28,299 $ 61,134

3 Full Site Two-Story

274 122 96,565 352 $ 6,782,186 $ 24,753 $ 55,592

4 Two-Story with Open

Space

283 131 98,690 349 $ 8,008,534 $ 28,299 $ 61,134

5 Parking Lot with Existing Building

149 -3 57,420 385 $ 2,675,413 $ 17,956 N/A

6 Parking Lot with

Restrooms Only

187 35 71,934 385 $ 3,351,675 $ 17,923 $ 95,762


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FIGURE 11: OPINION OF PROBABLE COST, THREE-STORY WITH BUILDING


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Additional Considerations

The inclusion of a parking structure at the proposed site will have impacts on many

different aspects of the city such as city events, traffic, parcel zoning, stormwater

quality and control, as well as others. These items will need additional investigation

and development before a final site plan can be drafted. Key points of a number of

these considerations are covered in this section.

Design Requirements Any parking structure design will be required to address additional issues relative to

safety, performance, and the physical context of the proposed location. These design

requirements will shape the final structure and its systems.

Americans With Disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) plays a key role in site design and

development since it became law in 1990. The City of Manitou Springs currently has

11 ADA accessible stalls on the Hiawatha Gardens parcels which serve the local

businesses as well as the bus services. The minimum number of required accessible

stalls can be found in the City’s zoning code and building regulations. The placement

of these ADA stalls will also play a role in the need for and placement of elements such

as parking structure elevators.

In addition to the ADA requirements related to the functionality of the parking

structure, attention should be paid to the accessibility, safety, and ease of use for

connecting facilities in and around the site. ADA compliant ramps, crosswalks, and

other features that facilitate connections to the trails and sidewalks of the larger

Manitou pedestrian network should be identified in the final site plan and roster of

necessary improvements.

FIGURE 12: ACCESSIBLE PARKING SPACE REQUIREMENTS


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Lighting An effective lighting design is a critical feature in the safety and effectiveness of

structured parking. Poor lighting design detracts from usage by making patrons

uncomfortable.

Zoning As detailed before, the Hiawatha Gardens are currently zoned as Commercial and has

the restrictions detailed in Table 1. The City of Manitou Springs has the capability to

change zoning designation to provide more flexibility on the parcels. An immediate

option for the city is to change the zoning from Commercial to Downtown zoning,

which would allow for a slightly taller building and have less setback requirements.

Plan Manitou shows future land use to be zoned as Gateway Mixed-Use, which has

secondary uses including public facilities and civic uses that should allow for a

parking structure. This proposed change in zoning could be utilized as a strategy.

Stormwater Echo Architecture noted in their Evaluation and Assessment of 10 Old Man’s Trail

that the current surface parking lot has no stormwater quality mechanism and the

rain water runs off the lot directly into Fountain Creek. This causes not only water

quality issues, but has resulted in eroding creek embankment. Design for a potential

parking structure will need to incorporate stormwater quality and possibly include

some water detention facilities. There are a number of potential solutions including

underground detention facilities or an innovative vertical water quality system on the

building façade.

Geological Soils With the construction of a multi-story structure, an in-depth soils analysis will need to

be undertaken to determine the appropriate support structure and ensure that the

subbase would withstand the building. Without having completed such an analysis,

the city has provided Kimley-Horn with studies that have been completed for projects

near the Hiawatha Gardens site.

The geologic reports Kimley-Horn received concentrated on City Hall, 606 Manitou

Avenue, in response to a flooding event in 2013. The City Hall Structural Repair

Alternatives Analysis produced in 2015 by Quality Engineering detailed the Soils and

Hydrologic Characterization as shallow to moderately deep coarse sand from

sandstone with moderate to high susceptibility to erosion. The subsurface materials

consist of silty sand and sandstone with groundwater within 10 feet of the surface.

This Quality Engineering report references the 2014 Foundation and Soil Investigation

completed by RMG Engineers for the soil testing. RMG noted that the allowable

bearing capacity for the report’s subject site, 606 Manitou Avenue, is 2,500 psf with a

minimum footing width of 18” and a minimum depth of 30”.


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Functional Consideration In addition to the design requirements, there are additional functional considerations

that should be addressed in the final site design for the location. These functional

considerations impact the use and accessibility of the parking facility.

Special Events With Manitou Springs having such a tourist favored economy, unique events and

town-wide occurrences are anticipated to regularly influence the demand for parking.

Throughout the peak season there are events such as the Pikes Peak Marathon,

International Hill Climb, Barr Trail Mountain Race, and many others which bring in

thousands of people to Manitou Springs in a single day. Many of these peak time

events need special consideration concerning traffic, parking, and mobility since

Manitou Avenue and other roads in town are closed or restricted. Further analysis and

better understanding of the demands that these events put on the city should be

undertaken and is not in the scope of this project outside of understanding the role a

parking structure could have.

The benefits of a parking structure during these peak events would be that it helps

direct vehicle traffic away from the immediate downtown hub while being within

reasonable distance.

Traffic Circulation The location of these parcels paired with the irregular terrain throughout the town

leads to high pressure being currently put on Manitou Avenue to serve as one of the

only through streets. This fact is exacerbated during peak events previously discussed,

which heavily utilize Manitou Avenue.

The construction of a parking structure at this location, however, would be expected to

have minimal impacts on the El Paso Boulevard or Old Man’s Trail. The anticipated

250 net parking spaces would add roughly 250 vehicles per hour if all parking stalls

were filled within one hour. While this number is not insignificant, the reduction in

vehicles travelling along Manitou Avenue and Ruxton Avenue searching for parking

would result in more reduced trips than what would be added onto Old Man’s Trail.

Parking regulations must be made before an accurate traffic impact can be made

including what user and time restrictions the structure will have. For example,

parking could be utilized as short-term parking, which focuses downtown visitors and

would encourage parking turnover more often and thus result in more spread out

traffic. The parking stalls could also focus tourists that are utilizing the Cog Railroad,

which would result in more concentrated parking turnover corresponding with the

loading and unloading of trains. As well as what visitors the parking structure caters

to, the decision of moving the city employees to this parking structure would also

impact traffic throughout the city. If city employees were required to park in this

structure it would displace visitor parking to more areas throughout the city, rather

than encourage transit use and other alternative mode use. These decisions will be

very important to how the city wants to control traffic and will have implications on

city-wide mobility.


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There are other roads that provide access to Colorado Springs and El Paso County

including El Paso Boulevard, adjacent to the Hiawatha Gardens parcels, which has a

connection near the east end of Manitou Springs. The site is also located near an

existing access route to Colorado State Highway 24. This route, utilizing Washington

Avenue and Sunshine Trail, could alleviate the need for traffic on Manitou Avenue and

provide direct access to Highway 24 from the parking structure if proper signage and

wayfinding were implemented.

There are specific vehicle circulation changes that may need to be implemented in

order to improve vehicle access in and around the site. These changes are primarily

due to the historic, and very narrow, bridge carrying Old Man’s Trail over Fountain

Creek.

Option 1 reduces traffic on this bridge by providing some restriction on the use of Old

Man’s Trail and improving the intersection of El Paso Boulevard and Manitou Avenue.

Shown also in the figure is two sub-options including restricting Old Man’s Trail to

transit only and limiting turns at Old Man’s Trail and Manitou Avenue. A 3/4 access

in this location could make people trying to turn left onto Manitou Avenue use El Paso

Boulevard thus improving overall flow of vehicles with improvements.

FIGURE 13: TRAFFIC OPTION 1, INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT


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Option 2 is to improve the bridge crossing at Old Man’s Trail. Widening or replacing

the existing bridge would provide sufficient width for intersection improvements to

address traffic circulating to and from Manitou Avenue. A new bridge could also

provide enhanced pedestrian access and connection to the Creek Walk.

Multimodal Connectivity Manitou Springs currently has three transit routes which provide regional access as

well as a Manitou Springs dedicated service that all stop on Old Man’s Trail,

immediately next to the Hiawatha Gardens Parcels. The city has plans for the existing

Hiawatha Gardens building to be utilized as a Multi-Use and Transit Hub for the city.

Having such an important hub immediately next to a parking structure could further

enhance the effectiveness of town-wide mobility.

The City of Manitou Springs is also currently designing a Creek Walk Trail that will

follow Fountain Creek including immediately next to the Hiawatha Gardens parcels. It

would be encouraged for the city to include wayfinding, signage, and some connection

facility from any potential parking structure to this trail. With the community’s

emphasis on healthy and active lifestyle, this connection would be able to provide an

immediate invitation to visitors to walk and bike throughout Manitou Springs. The

future Creek Walk trail’s alignment may influence how the two pieces of infrastructure

interact.

FIGURE 14: TRAFFIC OPTION 2, BRIDGE ALTERATION


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With healthy and active modes of transportation, it would also be beneficial for the city

and utilization of the parking structure as a connector to the Transit Hub if there were

some bicycle amenities to be included on the Hiawatha Gardens site. This could

include bike lockers or storage, repair stations, or even some retail connection within

the Hiawatha Gardens building. Other alternative mode choices could also be

highlighted or displayed in the area such as motorized scooters and bike share, ride

hailing or car sharing designations, as well as unique modes such as Rickshaws or

Tuk Tuks as found more commonly in other parts of the world.

Wayfinding Wayfinding is known to be one of the biggest challenges for the city. Some studies, the

Ruxton Avenue Use and Impact Study for instance, have shown that hundreds of

vehicle trips per day are generated by the failure to find parking on Ruxton Avenue.

This phenomenon is not isolated to Ruxton Avenue, and likely causes unnecessary

trips along Manitou Avenue and many side streets throughout Manitou Springs.

Signage and wayfinding could and should be found throughout Manitou Springs that

indicates not only where parking is located, but could indicate how many stalls are

open at particular locations. Figure 16 gives two examples of different parking

counters that could be located on-site (left side) or throughout town (right side).

FIGURE 15: PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIVITY IMPROVEMENT


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Manitou Springs completed a process in May 2018 to assess potential temporary

signage throughout town. This project provided a number of different signage typology

and locations that

are deemed

important to include

the appropriate

signage. The project

did not include any

dynamic signage like

the figure above,

however it did

provide a starting

point for the city to

begin an update to

city-wide signage.

Examples from this

project are shown in

Figure 17.

FIGURE 17: PARKING WAYFINDING EXAMPLES

FIGURE 16: WAYFINDING PROPOSED IN MANITOU SPRINGS


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Funding There have been ongoing discussions between the City and other agencies regarding

funding for different uses of the Hiawatha Gardens site. Kimley-Horn has not been

involved in those discussions nor was this feasibility study intended to provide a

financial plan for any proposed parking structure. Such a financial plan requires

detailed financial analysis including use and revenue projections, maintenance and

other costs, and comparison of financing strategies and costs. The following

discussion presents a range of general financial considerations and elements that

would need to be defined

Potential Sources The potential funding sources for a parking structure to be located on the Hiawatha

Gardens range from local sources to state or federal funding.

Local funding commonly includes municipal bonds repaid through parking generated

revenue. There are many types of assessment districts that can be created through

voter approval to collect fees and or taxes which could provide funding such as

Business Improvement District, Parking Benefit District, or similar. Given the number

of special districts that currently exist including parking, PPRTA, and others this

approach may be confusing to the necessary voters.

State and Federal funding might also be pursued. There are specific funding types for

multimodal improvements. The Federal BUILD grant program that continues the

former TIGER program offers significant funding in a highly competitive environment.

Historically, projects that are cooperative among multiple agencies and serve multiple

modes of transportation have been viewed favorably. A Hiawatha Gardens multi-modal

transportation hub with multiple sponsor agencies and private partners including

Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs, Mountain Metro, and the COG Railroad may

provide an attractive choice.

Many parking facilities across the country are financed through public-private

partnerships. Private funding may be attracted ranging from minor contributions for

providing advertising rights to developing a multi-use structure. For example, retail

on the bottom, parking or housing on top is a combination of uses that can generate

financing or bond repayment revenue. With the Hiawatha Gardens site located

adjacent to a flood plain, a multi-use facility with private tenants may be problematic

unless the private party assumes ownership and control of the structure and leases

parking back to the City.

Parking Revenues Another option for funding would be to implement paid parking for the parking

structure. A complete financial analysis of how these funding systems would work is

out of the scope of this project. This type of analysis would need to consider: parking

demand and occupancy rate for the structure; duration of paid parking and turnover

rate; parking space allocation to monthly parking or public employees; operations and

maintenance costs such as utilities or employees; debt service and repayment

information; and not least of all the paid parking rates.


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For example, given structure Concept #2 (283 stalls) and assumptions such as 60%

occupancy average, 16 hour paid parking for all stalls, a $1 per hour parking rate, and

80% absorption for revenue available to pay for financing costs or debt repayment, an

amount of $2,800 is generated per space per year totaling $792,400 annual debt

servicing revenue. However, the occupancy and parking fee structure along with other

elements are highly variable and require further analysis. Maintenance, insurance,

and operating costs could also significantly change the absorption revenue

assumption.

In addition, assumptions about occupancy must be driven by a strategic plan for the

use of the structure and the existing parking supply. Much of this supply is free and

the City must decide on a strategy for pricing and balancing free parking availability

and demand. Examples of alternative strategies include:

• Decide if free parking for non-residents is a part of the overall City strategy

• Move City employee parking to structure and create additional vacancy in the

free parking adjacent to Memorial Park

• Implement residential parking permits along El Paso Boulevard and other areas

similar to the Ruxton corridor to preserve free parking for residents

• Provide designated free parking in the structure for ADA, alternate fuel vehicles,

or other specific users.

• Make structure parking free for specific times or events

The International Parking Institute (IPI) conducts surveys which provide national

averages for information on key performance indicators such as average spaces per

new construction project, construction cost per stall, revenue per stall based upon

organization type, and spaces per full time employee. The figures on the next page

show the results from the May 2017 “Industry Snapshot.”


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FIGURE 18: PARKING INDUSTRY AVERAGES; CREDIT INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE


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Design Elements and Options This section provides a photo study of the range of additional design options and best practices that can be

incorporated into the parking structure and final site design.

Green Walls There are many examples throughout the country of how to improve the aesthetics of parking structures. The end

design for a parking structure could utilize different styles and façade improvements which help create a more inviting

building that can blend into the surrounding area.


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Green Roofs Enhancing the productivity and environmental consciousness of the parking structure could help provide additional

benefits and help to reduce lifetime costs. Green roofs help aesthetically along with water flow. Solar roofing could

provide power to the building and potentially excess power to be used elsewhere.


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Exterior Facade Artistic renditions of parking structures could be revamped to include elements

that are unique to Manitou Springs such as the Mineral Springs, COG

Railroad, and many others (example of emulating local façade shown top row).

The building could blend into the town (shown middle), or be its own unique

point of emphasis (shown bottom).


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Interface between Buildings The interconnected relationship between a parking structure and the existing Hiawatha Gardens building could be an

opportunity to create a unique space that ties the two together. The City of Manitou Springs can utilize local inspiration

such as the Mineral Springs as a theme or style.


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Water Quality Options Given the limited space on the Hiawatha Gardens Parcels, alternative solutions to water quality might need to be

investigated. Water detention systems (shown far left), grease filters (immediate left, credit Advanced Drainage Systems),

and bioretention facilities (shown on previous pages) are just a few potential options to help mitigate environmental

impacts.


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Automated & Alternative Parking Structure Alternative parking structure solutions are becoming more common as space constraints and land values increase,

although they’ve been around for nearly as long as vehicles (bottom right). Automated parking and stackable structures

have uniquely different considerations than traditional parking garages. Modular parking (top right) can be utilized as

an interim solution or as a peak-demand solution where space constraints wouldn’t allow a full structure.


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Bike Lockers, Bike Share, & Electric Shared Scooters Shared mobility options have become very popular in cities across the world. Providing quality choices (along with clear

regulations) would allow for an emphasis on healthy living, higher pedestrian interaction, and further vehicle trip

reduction.


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Celebrate the COG RR The City of Manitou Springs has plans to continue to incorporate the COG Railroad into the final design of a parking

structure. This incorporation could include utilizing the railcars as dining (Frank’s Diner - left), museum space (Nevada

example – bottom left), breezeway decoration, or many others.


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Manitou Springs Character

A parking structure could (and should) be utilized to highlight and complement the unique and varying aspects of

Manitou Springs while having its own unique identity which could tie into the future of Hiawatha Gardens and

Memorial Park.


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Functional and Aesthetic Example This project is intended to evaluate the feasibility of implementing additional parking on the Hiawatha Gardens site

owned by the City of Manitou Springs. It is not intended to define a preferred path forward. Any parking structure or

other use of the site is being vetted through a larger process with a robust public engagement process. However, it has

been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Using the concepts, design elements, and themes presented here a

design concept was created to communicate the full integration of what a parking structure could look like on this

specific site.

The following visual examples do not represent a recommended, reviewed, or selected design theme. They represent

only a visualization exercise intended to communicate what a parking structure could like within the context of the

Hiawatha Gardens site.

The visualization is based on design Options 3 and 4 as presented above. Both options included a structure with two

levels of parking in addition to existing surface parking.


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Example 1: Two Story Structure over Existing Lot with Complete Hiawatha Gardens Building


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Example 1: Second View from Memorial Park


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Example 2: Structure without North Portion of Hiawatha Gardens Building


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Plaza Details Replacing the north section of the existing Hiawatha Gardens building is a space designed for gathering. Design

elements include:

1. Space for seating and meeting

2. COG RR car for covered seating

3. Amphitheater-style seating

4. Splash pad

5. Spirit of Manitou Art Exhibit

6. Bike Share

7. Doodle Wall

8. Movie Wall

7

8

1

2

3

4

6

5


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Green Wall Details The Green Wall adjacent to the Hiawatha Gardens breezeway is imagined in this example as a map to the Springs of

Manitou. This wall includes a skeletal structure with appropriate plant materials creating the background and visual

screen. There are multiple commercial suppliers including www.greenscreen.com.

The blue line traversing the façade is a diagram of the route connecting the springs, and each spring is represented by a

specific medallion. The material for these elements is powder coated steel mounted offset from the building structure.

These designs are simply meant to visually illustrate elements of a potential design and are not intended to be utilized

as a final building design.

http://www.greenscreen.com/

Hiawatha Gardens: Parking Structure Feasibility

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