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Downtown's gorgeous garage
New parking structure boasts solar panels, art glass and, soon, Longs Drugs

by Daniel DeBolt

After 18 months of work and $18 million spent, the new garage at California and Bryant Street is scheduled to be completed May 2. But it's so close to being done that people are already trying to use it.

Last Wednesday, someone drove into the garage and parked on the third floor. After descending the staircase the person was stopped.

"It's not open? What do you mean it's not open?" the person said. Senior project manager Rey Rodriguez recalled the incident during a tour Friday.

On the top floor is the pride of city officials, $1 million worth of solar panels (there will be a $237,000 rebate from PG&E) which power the lights and two elevators in the building. It may take 30 years for the city to recoup that investment through energy savings, but the City Council wanted to set an example and show a commitment to green building. The council also told staff that it had to be "a parking garage that didn't look like a parking garage," Rodriguez said.

"I never thought I could get this excited about a parking garage," said Kevin Duggan, city manager.

The 405-space, five-level garage blends in with its surroundings when viewed from the street, and looks very different from most parking garages. On the corner of the first floor is 14,000 square feet for Longs Drugs. Above its entrance are "art glass" windows reaching several stories, painted by an artist whose windows are in some of the world's tallest buildings.

Inside the garage, walls are painted white instead of the typical, foreboding grey cement.

The top floor has been offset inward to lessen the visual impact of a tall garage, making it seem only a bit taller than the homes across Bryant Street.

For years, downtown residents have asked for a drug store and grocery store. This fall, Longs Drugs is expected to finish its tenant improvements and move into the bottom floor. Now that the garage is mostly complete, work on that space is expected to start this week.

Rodriguez anticipates the garage will be heavily used right from the start, with many people driving up to the third floor just to see the art glass, then to the top floor to see the canopy of solar panels. There is also a great view of the city and the mountains.

The "art glass" windows were painted with special paint by San Francisco artist Shan Shan Sheng before being shipped to Germany to complete the process of curing the paint and fitting the pieces into double-pane windows.

The floors of the garage have their own story. To strengthen them, cables were laid down in a special pattern and pulled tight once the cement was dry. Rodriguez called it "post tension" cement. The floor above the Longs is also thicker than the rest of the floors to prevent vibration from cars driving overhead. The store may be the only Longs Drugs with numerous cement pillars adding to the decor.

Though it may be an attraction in itself, parking at the garage will be free, city officials say. A two-hour limit will apply during business hours, like in other downtown lots.

A ceremony to open the garage is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 at 4.30 p.m.

E-mail Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com

Posted by bob, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Sep 2, 2007 at 9:07 am

Does anyone else think

The 405-space parking is for compact cars only?

Posted by Bernie Brightman, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Sep 14, 2007 at 2:37 pm

It's not open?! It sure looks open. I've parked there twice now with absolutely no problem or indication that it's closed.

Posted by Bernie Brightman, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Sep 14, 2007 at 2:45 pm

Oh, I see, this article was written *before* May 2.

But say, does anyone think that Long's Drugs is a good idea for that location?

First of all, we had a Hallmark store downtown before and it failed. There was a Hallmark on San Mateo's main drag too and it recently closed as well. There was a Long's in Willow Glen and it also failed. It's so much easier to get in and out of the other Long's -- would enough people really use this one?

The other thing is that Long's is a relatively boring store. People going out for the evening want entertaining stores with interesting and/or weird stuff to do browsing/window shopping.

I'm afraid the City of Mountain View just hasn't thought this one through.

Posted by Castor Fu, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:42 pm

We're thrilled about being able to pick up something from the drugstore when going to the library or to downtown.

Downtown PA supports both a Longs and a Walgreen's, right? Maybe drugstores work well for people who want to complete a couple of errands when going out to lunch downtown.

In any event, it should be open now according to the sign on

it which we saw Saturday night.

Posted by Lisa, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Nov 15, 2007 at 11:35 am

I have a business in downtown it is great having a drug store. Besides the fact it provides low cost items it is a great place to pick up those forgotten items or daily need things.

Downtown needed a good anchor store, being on the back corner off of Castro was perfect location.