Parking This, Parking That: Updates on Downtown E.C.'s Parking Projects
City will seek public input on placement of parking kiosks in the near future, is in conversation with consultant for Gibson St. ramp
McKenna Scherer, photos by Andrea Paulseth
Parking Administrator Aaron Roths is tasked with overseeing the implementation of paid parking in downtown Eau Claire – set to go into effect June 1. His new role also comes at a time where critical conversations are underway regarding the necessary demolition of the Gibson St. parking ramp.
Passport, the company which already provides services in the parking ramps of downtown Eau Claire, will also be used for the new paid parking system – the paid parking ordinance was passed by city council this past August – throughout downtown.
Parking fees will be one dollar per hour in the Barstow St. area – stretching from Lake Street to Madison Street – with downtown parking outside of that area costing fifty cents per hour. Those parking fees will be enforced from 1pm-11pm, Monday-Saturday, and could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the City.
Even if, for example, parking went down to about 25% capacity after paid parking implementation – which will bring about seven months of paid parking revenue for 2026 – it would still generate roughly $400,000, Deputy City Manager Dave Solberg said.
Perhaps an especially tough gig at the moment, what with continued, growing contention over downtown parking, Roths stepped into the role with some experience on his side.
Roths most recently worked with Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) as a team member part of Neighborhood Services Division – the same department which oversees parking. The parking administrator role is an opportunity to better communication, Roths said.
The City of Eau Claire previously had a single part-time parking administrator, but with the significant projects and changes coming its way, a full-time staffer was necessary.
“I live here and I take pride in (Eau Claire). I know one of our biggest issues right now is parking ramps and cleanliness and safety (in them),” Roths said. “I see (the role) has an opportunity to have a bit better communication and more communication with the businesses and citizens of Eau Claire.”
As Roths transitions into the administrative role, the City is also looking to fill an additional full-time position and a grant-funded part-time position – both of which would support parking enforcement.
Roths said the City is also in conversation with a Duluth-based company to plan the demolition of the Gibson St. ramp, slated for the first quarter of 2027. A decision has not been made on whether a new ramp or a parking lot will replace it.
“It’s probably going to be early summer that we’ll have some solid information (on that parking ramp’s plan),” Roths said. A consultant is coming to Eau Claire sometime in March to see the ramp in person, further informing potential plans for it, he added.
The ramp, constructed in 1972 with 405 parking spots, is “nearing the end of its useful life.” Because of its connection to The Lismore Hotel, its demolition requires extensive – and expensive – planning.
$275,000 is allocated towards hiring a consultant to plan the ramp’s razing, according to the city’s 2026-2030 capital improvement plan. The actual razing itself, slated for 2027, is projected to cost about $3 million.
As expenses in construction and beyond continue to be impacted by inflation, the City hopes to explore potential public-private options for additional downtown parking.
If it were prices from eight to ten years ago, we'd have a lot more flexibility (in options), but everything is just constrained. We're trying to be sensitive to the residents as much as possible because everybody's feeling the pressure. –Dave Solberg, deputy city manager
Deputy City Manager Dave Solberg said construction of a new parking ramp would be very expensive – budget estimates checked against the American Society of Civil Engineers project costs between $30,000 to $40,000 per parking stall.
“Just for comparison, we built the North Barstow parking ramp for about $12,000 a parking stall,” Solberg said, “so the inflation through COVID and everything has gone up.”
“If it were prices from eight to ten years ago, we’d have a lot more flexibility (in options), but everything is just constrained. We’re trying to be sensitive to the residents as much as possible because everybody’s feeling the pressure,” Solberg continued.
Expenses are a central concern for the city, which is projecting an estimated $2.2 million budget deficit for 2027; its plans to implement paid parking could become a means to generate significant revenue.
Even if, for example, parking went down to about 25% capacity after paid parking implementation – which will bring about seven months of paid parking revenue for 2026 – it would still generate roughly $400,000, Solberg said.
“We’re hoping that if there was any kind of reduction in the number of people parking (downtown), that after a year people would be used to it and be back to normal,” Solberg said.
If parking is back to almost full capacity by then, that revenue generated would be “close to a million dollars.” Those funds would go quite a ways toward paying of the design consultant and razing of the Gibson St. ramp.
It is worth noting that while what comes after the Gibson St. ramp is demolished, in 2027, is up in the air, the Graham Riverside ramp’s fate has already been determined. At the end of January, city council approved the sale of the two-deck parking ramp to an area developer. The site will be turned into a multi-level housing project.
Locals will want to keep an eye on the city council’s agendas throughout 2026 – and on the City of Eau Claire’s social medias – for future updates on its downtown parking projects.
View the City of Eau Claire's current downtown parking options online at www.eauclairewi.gov/government/our-divisions/engineering/parking/lots-ramps.