WINTER HAVEN | Some people don’t park in the city’s free downtown parking garage because they think they have to pay to park there.
Some people don’t want to walk from the garage to their destination. Some people don’t want to park on the second floor.
But most nonresidents visiting downtown Winter Haven simply have no idea they are driving past a parking garage.
“It’s kind of hidden,” said Max Rabago, an employee at the nearby Tropical Smoothie. “It was definitely a good idea. They just need better signs.”
The city is aware of the problem and is working with the building’s design team to create signs directing people to the parking garage, City Manager Deric Feacher said at the July 8 commission meeting.
The $3.2 million, three-story, 267-space parking garage was designed to look like a modern chain of storefronts to blend in with the rest of downtown and to fit in with “the concept of the city,” Commissioner Steven Hunnicutt said.