Jefferson City plans to demolish Madison Street parking garage sooner than anticipated
Alison Patton
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jefferson City plans to demolish the Madison Street Parking Garage in November instead of taking it down and rebuilding it with the new downtown conference center, according to city spokeswoman Molly Bryan.
“We were planning to have the demolition begin for this parking garage towards the end of 2025,” Bryan said. “Now, we’re trying to move that process quicker to get to that point.”
The city hired a consultant to take a look at the parking garage Thursday after city staff had noticed some safety concerns with the ramps.
“The structural engineers that looked at it agreed that the ramps were of concern,” said Dave Helmick, who is the city’s interim director for planning and protective services.
Ramps to get in between floors and stair cases are blocked off. Many parking spaces are unusable because the ramps are unsound, so the only available spaces are the few that are in front of an entrance.
Helmick said the parking garage isn’t in danger of collapsing.
“The big concern is the ramps that allow you access to those upper areas, driving over them, heavy vehicles, snow loads, further deterioration, things like that could compromise those ramps to the point of failure,” Helmick said.
Bryan said the city reached to permit holders for the Madison Street Parking Garage to notify them of the changes and posted “permit only” signs around the entrances.
The city is working with a company to figure out where people can park once the garage is completely shutdown in November.
For the city to go through with demolition, the City Council would have to pass a resolution Monday allowing the city to start considering bids from contractors, according to city documents. Bids would no longer be accepted after Oct. 17.
At the next council meeting, members will also consider entering an agreement with the developer of the downtown conference center, which is another step toward building.
Ward 2 Councilman Mike Lester said he expects that bill to pass.