las cruces set to move forward on long-planned parking garage and public bathrooms projects

A public input session is expected to be held sometime next month in Las Cruces to appraise a project that city leaders for the last 20 years or so have wanted to see become reality: the building of a new, multi-floor parking garage.

The project, as envisioned, would go up in the downtown area, and would be designed to respond to a growing need for parking in a part of the city busy with both daily and weekend traffic.

During a recent meeting of the Las Cruces City Council, it was disclosed that the city has on hand some $2 million in capital outlay funding to launch both the design and initial construction phases of the project.

Altogether, it is thought the new garage will cost nearly $19 million to build, with funding to be secured from a variety of sources.

The parking lot has been envisioned as being able to accommodate up to 400 vehicles, with perhaps some retail space available on the ground floor.

Where exactly the new garage will be built has not yet been decided.

An additional downtown project will see the construction of new public restrooms to go up behind the historic Rio Grande Theater, off the 200 block of Main Street.
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That project will also include the paving of a city-owned parking lot, with work expected to begin later this spring.

​By Garry Boulard

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