Calling on the cops in West Duluth may soon be best done by telephone. That's because trying to drive over to the new police station at 58th Avenue West and Grand Avenue could leave you searching in vain for a parking place.
The new $1.3 million facility promises to have it all when it comes to combating crime in a neighborhood where, according to police, wrongdoing is on the rise. When the facility opens, perhaps as soon as late January, it will include interview rooms, an intoxilizer room for testing drunken drivers, work stations, evidence storage, an Emergency Operations Center and no fewer than four officers and a sergeant on duty.
What the facility won't have, however, is an abundance of off-street parking. No, that won't hamper crime-fighting, nor will it affect the work of firefighters next door in the adjacent West Duluth fire hall. But it will be a problem -- and already is a problem -- for users of a senior center and neighborhood library, both on the other side of an already too small parking lot at the same City Center West site.
The parking lot has 15 spaces, four of them reserved for motorists with handicaps. The remaining 11 spaces had been for the general public. But when construction of the police station began, seven of the 11 spots were turned over to firefighters for their personal vehicles. The new building is going up where the firefighters used to park.
The result for seniors and library patrons: "We're jammed," Glory Juhl of the east end said Wednesday while painting an arts project in the West Duluth senior center.
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"Use of the senior center has been cut, probably in half, because of the lack of parking," said Carole Ramos of Morgan Park, another regular at the center. "We worry people are going to stop coming altogether."
To their credit, city and police officials are well aware of parking problems and the potential for parking problems at City Center West -- even if solutions haven't been hammered out. The department's Lt. Eric Rish said three spaces were created near the new police station's front doors for short-term customers. A handful of additional spaces were included at the back of the new building, presumably for squad cars. And nearby off-street parking is being looked at, but hasn't been secured, for police officers. Rish declined to divulge specifics for fear of vandalism to officers' personal vehicles.
Also, Rish said, curbside parking spaces along 58th Avenue West and Grand Avenue tend to be underused, and the city has had talks with the neighboring American Legion about using a portion of its large lot next door.
Such talks need urgency. Especially with fast-moving traffic along 58th Avenue West and Grand Avenue making curbside spots undesirable for seniors or for library-using families with strollers and small children. And especially with the chances being good, according to Rish, of firefighters continuing to use spaces once available to seniors and library patrons.
"This is something the city has to take care of," Rish said. "I have the same concerns. ...But the benefit of us moving out there is going to be a plus."
No arguments there. Rising crime in western Duluth demands a bold police presence. The city's efforts are appreciated. But please, so is a parking space.
