State Rep. Eleana Colby had long avoided parking at the Storrs Street garage in Concord before heading to the State House to carry out her legislative duties.
It wasn’t the distance that bothered her, she said. It was because the garage never felt safe, with netting installed on the ceiling to catch falling debris and a staircase cordoned off because of rust.
On Wednesday, that changed.
As lawmakers arrived to cast their votes on Veto Day, Colby pulled into Concord’s brand-new legislative parking garage for the first time.
“It felt good to park at the new garage,” said Colby, who represents the town of Hopkinton and Bow. “Physically, the garage feels safer.”
After more than a year of construction, lawmakers got to see the inside of their shiny new legislative parking garage.
About 350 people were able to park in the new garage, which sits between the State House and Concord City Hall. The old one closed for good on August 1, according to the General Court’s Chief Operating Officer Terry Pfaff.
While the garage, which occupies a city block downtown, will not be open to the public at any time, it will free up more prized street parking during the day, as was the case on Wednesday.
Colby, who also sits on the select board in Bow, said she hopes the garage will open to the public even when the legislature isn’t in session, since it’s a significant piece of property sitting off Concord’s tax rolls.
“Public funds were used to build it. The public should be able to use it,” she said. “I also think of the property tax implications.”
Because of the old garage’s relative distance from the statehouse, the state had negotiated with the city for dozens of street spots to be set aside for lawmakers with mobility issues.
During the most recent session, and many before it, yellow bags could be seen lining many of the streets immediately around the gold dome, pinching the parking supply on that end of downtown all day. The city has pushed to change that.
“I’ve certainly made it no secret that I want to see it significantly reduced or eliminated,” Mayor Byron Champlin said on Wednesday.
As will come as a relief to many Concord residents, there was a noticeable scarcity in the number of parking meters covered by yellow “reserved” bags downtown Wednesday afternoon.
There will still be a few reserved spots, Pfaff said, but lawmakers are now sent to the new garage, which is ADA compliant.
“We have ample parking for the general court now,” Pfaff said. “So that’s where they’re directed to park.” The exact number of allowed reservations is still being negotiated, according to the mayor.
Plenty of red-and-white license plates could still be seen in on-street spots on Wednesday. That, Pfaff said, is a personal choice made by lawmakers. It’s a habit some city leaders want to see end.
Lawmakers in street spots are obligated to pay city parking fees, and meter-feeding beyond the three-hour limit is against city rules. A session day, though, typically lasts far longer than that.
But for many legislators, this marks a long-awaited transition.
“It’s fabulous,” said State Rep. Nick Germana. “If you’ve ever had the pleasure of being in the Storrs Street garage, where it is literally falling down around you and the turns going up from floor to floor are just so tight — in any event, it’s a beautiful space. They did a terrific job, and it’s going to make it a lot easier.”
City officials have also been eager to see the old garage torn down.
Its rusty frame spans over Storrs Street, an area many in Concord want to see blossom with redevelopment.
Demolition is expected in 2027, according to Pfaff. The state is set to put the tear-down job out to bid in about six weeks.
Sruthi Gopalakrishnan contributed reporting.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that the old parking garage closed on August 1. No lawmakers currently park there.
