The city of Knoxville held the first of many public meetings to discuss making a downtown parking garage bigger.
The State Street Garage is one of the most popular places to park downtown, and a proposed expansion would add 250 parking spots in three additional levels, along with a pedestrian bridge over State Street connecting to Gay Street near the Regal Riviera.
"We've learned that communication is key with the public. We've done several projects downtown in the past several years, and it's just so important to get the input of the public before we start. We try to think through all the scenarios we can think through it's hard to know without public input exactly what the concerns are. We think we know, but you don't always know," said Downtown Coordinator Rick Emmett.
"A few times I've come in at like seven at night, eight at night, and I can't find a parking place and I have to wait for someone to come from the movie and pull out so I can pull in a place. well, they're gonna work all that out," said resident Suzanne Carlson.
The plan calls for three phases of work that would all be completed in July or August of next year.
The city plans to hold more informational meetings in the near future.