The Civic Center Parking Garage has signage at the entrance indicating how many parking spaces are available. 

With the City proposing changing how parking works downtown, there’s been a fair bit of discussion on Facebook, Nextdoor, and Reddit (among other places?) regarding why paid on-street parking is a good or bad idea.

The City has conducted a parking study and the determination is that our downtown parking is “upside-down.” On-street parking is currently free, though usually limited to only 2 hours of parking. All three City-owned parking garages are free for the first hour, but cost $1/hour every hour after that (which is still very cheap, but it’s still more than “free”). This format encourage people to maximize the amount of time they spend looking for parking on the street in order to save a dollar or more (and perhaps more stressfully, saving the stress of having to use yet one more app) rather than driving directly to a garage where parking is more plentiful, but might end up costing something (even if it’s not much).

In order to encourage longer-term parkers to use structures and shorter term parkers to use on-street parking, the proposal is to install some sort of parking fee system (likely app or kiosk based, though it apparently hasn’t been decided for certain yet) in certain parts of downtown while also possibly extending the amount of time a vehicle can remain in the same on-street parking spot.

Part of the discussion, however, depends on how full the parking structures already are. If they’re maxed out regularly, then perhaps paid on-street parking isn’t the answer. Maybe we just need to build another downtown parking structure (which the City is apparently already looking at).

I reached out to the City’s Parking Services division and asked if there’s data on how full the structures get. They sent back a document that lists the parking as it looked in May 2025. So I thought I’d share that here and add a bit of other info as well so you know which parking structure is which, how much they cost, who owns them, etc. This post is intended to be informational, not arguing for or against paid on-street parking, though I’ll admit that I agree that our parking is upside-down and I’d like to see the paid on-street parking policy passed in January.

Civic Center Parking Structure

The Civic Center Parking Structure (CCPS) is located at the intersection of Laporte Avenue and Mason Street – 144 N Mason St. It was built in 2000 and is owned and operated by the City of Fort Collins according to the Larimer County Tax Assessor. 

From the City of Fort Collins website:

“The City of Fort Collins took the lead on the construction of the parking garage in Fort Collins. Funding came from the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County and the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority. The City selected Hensel-Phelps as the contractor to design and build the parking structure.

“The civic center parking structure is a 5 level, 905 space public parking structure with commercial stores at the street level. The parking facility provides parking for monthly parking customers as well as the general public. The structure accommodates parking for the courthouse, existing public entities, as well as adjacent retail and business establishments.

“Maintaining the masonry building tradition of Fort Collins, the design incorporates several urban design elements such as: a recognizable base, appropriate scale, vertical window openings, staggered cornices etc. The 15,890 square foot commercial area will encourage pedestrian activity throughout the block. The design will accommodate a restaurant or eatery and several quality commercial establishments. Pedestrian access to the “Opera Galleria” mall will also be provided. Upon completion, the civic center parking structure will fill a functional need for the city as well as contribute to the rich urban heritage of Fort Collins.”

The following graph is from the Parking Services department with the City of Fort Collins. It shows the occupancy rate in the Civic Center Parking Structure on three different days  and at three different times each day in May 2025. 

The low occupancy rates for this parking structure indicate that we’re not maximizing its use. This is definitely an example that supports the current “upside-down” evaluation regarding the City’s downtown parking strategy. 

Old Town Parking Structure

The Old Town Parking Structure (CCPS) is located at the intersection of Remington Avenue and Mountain Avenue – 215 E. Mountain Ave. It was built in 1994 and is owned and operated by the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority (DDA) according to the Larimer County Tax Assessor.

The following graph is from the Parking Services department with the City of Fort Collins. It shows the occupancy rate in the Old Town Parking Structure on three different days  and at three different times each day in May 2025.

This parking structure is only marginally better than the Civic Center parking structure in terms of occupancy reaching capacity. It looks like this is the more popular of the City government’s two cheapest parking structures, especially for people getting dinner in the evening. 

Fire House Alley Parking Structure

The Fire House Alley Parking Structure (CCPS) is a block away from the Old Firehouse building, but it is adjacent to Old Firehouse Alley, which extends a block or more past the Old Firehouse. The parking structure is at the intersection of Jefferson Street and Chestnut Street – 215 E. Mountain Ave. It was built in 2017 and is owned and operated in part by the City of Fort Collins according to the Larimer County Tax Assessor. A substantial portion of the structure is owned by and used for the Elizabeth Hotel to the south.

The following graph is from the Parking Services department with the City of Fort Collins. It shows the occupancy rate in the Old Town Parking Structure on three different days  and at three different times each day in May 2025.

This is the City’s newest parking structure, but it still isn’t reaching capacity. It seems to get closest to capacity around dinner time. 

Safeway/Target Parking Structure

When Safeway moved from the west side of S. College Avenue to the east side, a popular form of “inner city” design for the grocery chain was to include a parking structure within the project. In 1988, Safeway built a larger grocery store building that included two levels of structured parking. The “underground parking garage” appears to be owned by a real estate company based in Loveland according to the Larimer County Tax Assessor’s website. 

Unfortunately, because the City doesn’t own this parking structure, it didn’t have data as to what its occupancy rate is, but based on a real estate ad for one of the vacant retail spaces, there are 144 free parking spaces in the structure. 

Here are some more photos of this parking structure taken on November 25, 2025 around 3:15 pm. 

The “underground parking” is still open to the sunshine with some slight landscaping enlivening the space between structure and sidewalk. 

This is the only sign anywhere within the parking structure (that I could find, at least) that indicates the price of parking in this structure. And the sign says, “Free Parking.”

There were very few instructive signs within the parking structure, but this photo captures the two most common signs. One indicates that there is dedicated parking for Target Associates. The other says “No Loitering” and indicates that the structure is under surveillance. Given the numbers of homeless people that tend to hang out in this part of town, the loitering is very likely focused on those who might see a covered but empty parking garage that’s open and free to the public and choose to set up a small encampment. 

The parking structure has elevators and stairs on the north end that lead directly to the Target store above. But there are also staircases on the southeast and southwest corners of the structure for easy access to parking from the street. There’s also a sidewalk along the side of the car ramp down to the underground part of the structure for peds. 

Despite being free with no apparent time limit, the parking structure is largely empty. 

Addendum

The parking structures are really cheap on a daily use basis — free for the first hour and only a buck every following hour. But they’re EVEN CHEAPER when you pay at a monthly rate — which works well for residents, business owners, and employees. Check these rates out. There really is NO reason why our parking structures should be as under-utilitized as they are. 

Screenshot from the City of Fort Collins Parking Services website (taken on November 26, 2025).