Gym Addition May Lead to Parking Structure

is proposing a 4,800-square-foot addition. The project comes before the Historic Preservation Review Commission for design review Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Room in City Hall.

A report by Associate Planner Doug Vu recommends approval of the addition, which will be used for classes, maintenance and utilities. According to owner Norm Koerner, the project is the first step in a larger plan to add 30-35 parking spaces in a two-story parking structure.

The addition would fill in an inverted L shaped area on the northeast corner of the gym, making the building square, 122 feet on a side.  The hill on the West Sixth Street side of the property will be graded to accommodate the addition and add 12 parking spaces.

Koerner said he is worried about the parking structure being built first.

 "We need to get this expansion done in back because if the structure goes in first, we'd never be able to do anything back there," he said Wednesday afternoon in the gym's snack bar.

The addition's exterior and architectural elements would mirror the existing building. Koerner was quick to point out that the parking structure also would match the exterior elements.

The project will be 25 feet tall, the same height as the existing building.

Getting to this point in the process has not been a speedy affair, but Koerner accepts some of the blame for that. He said he has been working on getting the addition for about three years but doesn't expect construction to be complete until after next year's rainy season.

Koerner said he envisions the parking structure running the entire north elevation of the building and out nearly to the sidewalk on Military West. He said he needs the extra parking to accommodate cars during the midmorning and evening peak-use times.

Koerner said he has yet to discuss the parking structure with neighbors because he hasn't had anything to show them. That will change when the architect delivers plans for the parking structure in two weeks. 

"It'll be exactly the same (as the existing building) except for the window arrangement," he said of the parking structure.

Koerner is hopeful that his neighbors will be open minded about the proposed parking structure: "We hope we're not offending anyone."