116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Time Machine: Cedar Rapids’ ‘Christmas present’
First Street Parkade opened 62 years ago on Dec. 17, 1961
The Gazette called the new three-level First Street Parkade in Cedar Rapids “a Christmas package for the motoring public” when it opened 62 years ago on Dec. 17, 1961.
In keeping with that theme, builders placed star-topped Christmas trees in the top corners of both the Second and Third Avenue sides of the structure.
The parkade, with its dizzying spiral ramp that spun out over the waters of the Cedar River, was built on the riverfront between Second and Third avenues.
The ramp wasn’t quite finished on opening day. Among items needing completion were the Second Avenue exit and the north elevator, but the city decided the ramp was finished enough to allow Christmas shoppers to park in any of 426 spots.
“Motorists parked free in the new parkade Monday (Dec. 17), were scheduled to park free again Tuesday and possibly for the remainder of the week,” a notice in The Gazette said. “Reason for the gift to the public is that all of the equipment has not yet been installed.”
The opening celebration included candy canes for kids distributed by Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound, courtesy of the Retail Merchants Bureau.
Downtown ramp
The idea for a downtown ramp started in the early 1950s. One was considered for Fifth Avenue and Fifth Street SE, but it fell through. In 1958, an eight-story structure was proposed at Fourth Avenue and Second Street SE. The City Council didn’t approve.
After George A. Devlin, president of National Garages of Detroit, visited Cedar Rapids in June 1959, the city’s plans to build a parking ramp began to solidify.
The council agreed to a 25-year bond issue of $1.7 million to pay for it. The money was to be repaid with parking meter money and ramp income. The bond issue also included money for demolition of the iconic Union Depot -- along the Fourth Street railroad tracks between Third and Fifth avenues SE, across from Greene Square -- and construction of a parking lot at that location.
National Garages was hired to design the new ramp.
Free parking continued until work was completed on the Third Avenue cashier’s booth. Drivers paid 10 cents for each hour, paying as they exited. Cashiers were on duty 24 hours a day.
Then there was an election. Mayor James Meaghan was out, and Mayor Robert M.L. Johnson was in. Johnson had campaigned against the parkade, calling it a “boondoggle.”
After he was sworn in, Johnson said, “It’s there, and we’re just going to have to live with it.”
General contractor Abell-Howe Co. announced the parkade was officially finished June 10, 1962.
Need for repair
Thirty years later, in 1992, the First Street Parkade was in need of extensive repairs.
By then, many downtown shoppers and stores had migrated to the Westdale and Lindale malls, and most of the ramp was leased to monthly parkers. An evaluation of the structure showed high levels of chloride ions in the concrete, causing extensive corrosion on the top level, which was closed for repairs.
Traffic Engineer Mel Meyer said the problem started more than 15 years before when road salt was carried into the ramp by cars during the winter. When the damage was discovered, each level of the ramp was sealed regularly, but the damage had been done.
The following year, a consultant firm from Michigan recommended replacing the First Street Parkade with one accommodating 600 cars.
By 1994, that prospect dimmed as plans for park-and-ride lots took shape. Besides, by then the city had the Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Five Seasons, Ground Transportation and Plaza parking ramps.
The ramp continued operating until the Floods of 2008, which damaged the ramp’s office and elevators.
Worth saving?
When the city formulated its 2008 post-flood parking strategy, it considered not reopening the parkade. Instead, 100 first-floor spaces were opened for monthly parkers while the city formulated a plan for its demolition using disaster funds from FEMA.
The plan was temporarily halted in 2010 when FEMA and Iowa State Historical Society preservationists said the parkade was historically significant and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
The spiral extending out over the Cedar River was under construction on Sept. 27 1961 when the photo was taken. The spiral was the ramp’s exit. Snow accumulating on the top deck would be dumped into the hollow center of the spiral and land in the river. Gazette photo
A tower rises on the southeast corner of the First Street Parkade in September 1961 as the parking ramp was being built in Cedar Rapids. The tower housed a stairwell and elevator. (Gazette archives)
Jeff Carr, a FEMA historic preservation specialist, said the “unique spiral exit ramp provides a stunning visual impact on the east bank of the Cedar River.”
That argument was lost, and demolition of the ramp began in July 2011. That “stunning” spiral ramp posed a challenge for demolition because it was embedded in the flood wall.
Surface parking replaced the ramp until 2014, when ground was broken for the 11-story CRST Center.
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