Parking Garage

Garage breakdown The total cost of the parking garage has been estimated to be $5.2 million. Here is how the city expects to pay for it: n $1.75 million in federal transportation grant funds. n $400,000 from state downtown revitalization money. n $350,000 from the sale of retail space in the first floor of the garage. n $400,000 from Third Street Development Corp. This money is what is left over from the sale of the Hub-Gilcher complex, minus Third Street's expenses.

Here are some developments from Monday's City Commission meeting on the city's parking garage project: Danville City Commission approved the movement of $394,000 from Third Street Corp. in to an escrow account at Farmers Bank. The money is a combination of profit from the sale of retail space in the Hub-Gilcher complex and Renaissance grant funds. It will be used to pay for construction costs of a parking garage that will be built at the corner of Third and Walnut streets. Farmers has agreed to handle the account without charge, according to the city.

The owners of Central Kentucky Ambulatory Surgical Center have agreed to meet the conditions the Kentucky Heritage Council placed on renovation of the Old Gilcher Hotel and will proceed with the project, allowing Danville to move ahead with its downtown parking garage. In a press release issued Friday through Heart of Danville, Dr. Art Rivard said partners in the surgery center have agreed to preserve the Main Street facade of the historic building, as required by the Heritage Council, and make other structural changes needed to strengthen the building to support the center.

Dear Editor: Because none of us can predict the future, investing in it always entails some risk. The only safe bet is to invest in things that are of fundamental importance to an organization or a community. If they are fundamentally important today, they most likely will be tomorrow as well. Let me illustrate the point. Just over a year ago, we at Centre undertook a $40 million bond issue in order to refinance some existing debt but largely to make possible The College Centre project.

Although the city continues to work on construction and bond paperwork for a parking garage in downtown Danville, Third Street Development Corporation said it won't - or can't - meet conditions set by the Danville City Commission. Third Street now says that a Nov. 30 deadline it cited in lobbying the city wasn't set by the unidentified tenant, as many thought, but rather one the corporation set for itself to put together information for a December meeting with the tenant. Janet Hamner, Third Street corporation director, wouldn't say when the group was supposed to meet with the tenant, but said that it didn't expect an answer on the lease until after the first of the year.

Dear Editor, On last Monday at the city hall meeting, I told Mayor Hugh Coomer about building a parking garage for students at Centre College. People will stop complaining then. I told a few people about this, and they said it's a good idea. Students would have a card to get in the building and parking would be free. I told them it would be good for everyone and would help the economy, like restaurants, shopping centers and tourism, more employment and raises. People will work and money will flow to and from other towns.

Dear Editor: Nearly a million dollars in state funds has been spent to purchase the Hub-Gilcher properties in downtown Danville. Now we must build a parking garage on that site to cost a few million (now $5 or $6 million) to attract tenants to the properties. But we are happy because our congressman has been able to secure $1.75 million in the form of a federal grant to help pay for the project. But who pays the balance? Now, according to the editorial in Sunday's Advocate, this plan must be supported because the "parking garage is an economic development project ... intended to bring new jobs to the community.

Dear Editor: Thank you U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher and Sen. Jim Bunning for securing a $1.75 million request in the federal budget for a downtown parking garage. The Danville parking garage and redevelopment of the Hub-Gilcher property has long been a priority of the Danville-Boyle County community. For over two years, our staff has been working with Ernie Fletcher to find a funding avenue for this project. Congressman Fletcher would be commended for this vision and leadership as downtown Danville is in a much better position to prosper economically through business retention, job creation and redevelopment of vacant buildings.

Dear Editor: The following endorsement was passed unanimously Thursday by the Centre College Student Government Association. "We, the Centre College Student Government Association, do hereby fully support and encourage the efforts of the Heart of Danville in their venture to seek funding for a downtown parking garage. It is our considered opinion that the Danville City Commission should act quickly to commit support for securing a bond issue for this cause, and by so doing, act to rejuvenate our historic downtown Danville.

Dear Editor: As many of us know, attempts by many in Danville to secure funding for a proposal to construct a downtown parking garage have been in the works for some time. As the president of the Heart of Danville put it in his letter to the editor last week, the group has been in negotiations with Congressman Fletcher "for over two years" in order to gain federal funding for this project. Accordingly, I found it somewhat striking when I learned that Fletcher had finally been able to secure over $1.75 million for the construction of the downtown parking garage at such a politically opportune time.

Editor's note: Taken from the Danville 911 records, the Police Blotter represents a history of the initial calls and the information used by the dispatcher to send officers to investigate complaints. It is not necessarily an indication of what the officer found upon arrival at the scene, or of how police may have dealt with the complaint.   JUNE 27 12:34 a.m., caller from Long Run Community Apartments advised someone has driven a suspicious van around the area for the last hour; caller believes it might be his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend and they just filled out protective order paperwork; extra patrol is requested.

We are fortunate to have Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville, but they have given little consideration to access for the disabled and elderly who are unable to walk far distances to the hospital entrance. There are long walks from the parking garage to the hospital. The walled area adjacent to the emergency room is downhill to the entrance and uphill to the parking area. That incline makes a big difference for those who have trouble breathing or need a cane to steady their walking.

NEW ORLEANS - There was no way Kentucky senior Lindsey Buehner was going to miss the Final Four - and she even managed to get front row seats in the student section for Monday's national championship game. Buehner is a UK dance team member, but Kentucky did not bring the dance team to any of its postseason games. That left Buehner and several other dance team members on their own to not only get here, but go through the difficult process to get into the games. “You have to go through three or four lines just to get in. We had to actually line up outside the parking garage to even get in the parking garage,” Buehner said.

There were 108 people laying face-down on the hardwood floor in the Grand Hall of the Arts Center Aug. 20, awaiting their fate. Twenty-seven teams of four gathered that Saturday to spend an afternoon in an all-out mad dash, driving across Danville/Boyle County in a race for $500. The Community Arts Center's 3rd annual Dantastic Race, sponsored by Kentucky National Guard, was a great success. In this Amazing Race-like competition, teams completed challenges at various destinations throughout Danville/Boyle County and deciphered clues leading them to their next stop on the race.

Editor's note: Taken from the Danville 911 records, the Police Blotter represents a history of the initial calls and the information used by the dispatcher to send officers to investigate complaints. It is not necessarily an indication of what the officer found upon arrival at the scene, or of how the complaint may have been dealt with. AUGUST 9 12:57 a.m., caller from Nichols Terrace thinks an ex-boyfriend just stole her vehicle; female called back and said it was possibly a repossession so officers can disregard at this time; she'll call back if needed.

Editor’s note: Taken from the Danville 911 records, the Police Blotter represents a history of the initial calls and the information used by the dispatcher to send officers to investigate complaints. It is not necessarily an indication of what the officer found upon arrival at the scene, or of how the complaint may have been handled. APRIL 11 1:58 a.m., officer out with a subject on Perkins Avenue who is vomiting in the street. 4:11 a.m., caller advised there is a domestic altercation going on at Bold Venture residence then disconnected.

On Oct. 21, I had a doctor’s appointment in Danville, and my wife had one in Somerset, where we live. She drove the vehicle I would normally drive and was detained, so I decided to leave in another. I have a registered parking permit for the handicapped, but the hangtag was in the other vehicle. On the way to Danville, I was further delayed by road construction. I arrived at a parking garage to which I was not familiar at around 2 p.m. I found one empty parking place. It was a handicap spot.

Editor’s note: Taken from the Danville 911 records, the Police Blotter represents a history of the initial calls and the information used by the dispatcher to send officers to investigate complaints. It is not necessarily an indication of what the officer found upon arrival at the scene, or of how the complaint may have been handled.   NOVEMBER 30 3:13 a.m., a male subject has threatened to harm himself with a gun. 7:51 a.m., caller just pulled into Cumberland Floor Covering parking lot and noticed the door to the business has been busted and the lights are on inside; entry made and owner contacted.

A little more than three years ago, I recognized the desperate need for a food bank in Danville. It wasn’t easy getting the message across, but eventually my voice was heard due largely to one simple editorial in this wonderful newspaper.   Today, Danville can be proud of the fabulous food bank now being offered to our residents, so desperately needed in these difficult times. The combined efforts of the totally volunteer staff at our food bank are outstanding, along with the help of some very caring college students.

Voters packed the house Tuesday night to see candidates for the top posts in city and county government field questions about issues facing the respective governments they hope to lead. The forum, organized by Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce and moderated by John Nelson, executive editor of Advocate Communications Inc.w, drew a standing-room-only crowd to the community room at Inter-County Energy. Non-partisan candidates in the mayoral race addressed a broad range of topics that have become familiar to anyone following the hotly contested race between longtime Commissioner Jamey Gay and first-time candidate Bernie Hunstad.