PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — A downtown parking garage on the Mississippi Gulf Coast has barely been used since a city spent federal money to build it after Hurricane Katrina, and local officials say it has become an eyesore covered in graffiti.
Pascagoula leaders are looking for ways to give the City Dock Parking Garage a new purpose, possibly by adding offices or retail spaces on the upper floors, the Mississippi Press reported. The original light fixtures and security cameras were destroyed long ago.
“Isn’t it terrible?” Mayor Jay Willis said. “It’s just ridiculous. Because there hasn’t been a lot of traffic down there over the years since it was built, it has become a favorite place for people looking to do bad things and not be seen.”
As billions of federal dollars poured into Mississippi after Katrina in 2005, Pascagoula used some of its money to build the parking garage with the expectation of future downtown development. The garage is near the Pascagoula River.
“You know the old phrase ‘Build it and they will come?’ Well, they didn’t come,” Willis said. “It has sat totally empty and unused since it was built.”
Willis and the Pascagoula City Council are hoping to convert the structure into something useful. The city has contracted with a planning and design firm to determine options.
“I really believe that’s going to turn into something that will be very nice for the city of Pascagoula,” Willis said.
The city has replaced light fixtures in the garage and installed a new surveillance camera system that ties in to the Pascagoula Police Department. The garage sits directly behind nine new upscale townhouses built along the riverfront, with 11 additional townhouses under construction.
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