OCR Text |
Show Thursday, May 20, 1971 Sun-Advocat- e, Price, Utah 13 Modern Parking Decks Provide Ease and Safety for Customers Those patience-tryin- fender-s- g, parking cratching ga- rages of yesterday are giving way to spacious structures known as parking decks. self-ser- RADIATOR REPAIRING ve Often accommodating thousands of cars under one roof, these structures provide flat, unobstructed floors with wide lanes and angle parking a cinch for even inexperienced drivers. Modern parking decks offer motorists quick entrance and fast exit into surface streets. Special consideration is given to the customer during the brief period he is on foot within the parking facility. Women especially are concerned about security, which often is afforded by illuminated walkways and stairy wells. Some decks have Automotive olndustrial o Farm WELDING tinted glass enclosed elevator shaft (right) is a feature of the parking structure recently completed for Pogues Department communications be- Cars Are Guarded This is a boon to the driver stuck with a dead battery, a flat tire or some other problem. Closed circuit television helps parking deck personnel maintain surveillance over key locations and roving patrols are included in the security programs of some large parking decks. According to specialist Richard C. Rich, who has designed some of the largest parking decks now in use, 24-ho- ur the convenience and security of customers must remain uppermost. In some cases, we have even moved elevator shafts out from the buildings onto sidewalks so that occupants will be within easy sight of passersby, says Rich. Our experience shows that drivers feel they are entering another world when they pull into a strange parking facility. Its enormity and often barren atmosphere can be ominous. Not only must we make the deck efficient and easy to negotiate, we must also make it comfortable and appealing, despite its awesome size. Where the parking garage of yesterday was essentially a warehouse, the modern parking deck is designed to function as a machine, with the driver as an integral part of the mechanism the most important part of the mechanism. ... Floors Color Coded Spiral ramps, according to Rich, are designed to elevate cars as many as a dozen levels with a minimum of effort on the part of the driver. Directions are given by illuminated signs, and floors are color coded for easy remembering of the cars location. "Convenient, , multi-lev- el parking structures have been an important stimulus to crowded areas, says Rich. We know that safe and economical parking is a big fac- tor in keeping our cities alive. "Downtown department stores, for example, usually offer much more in the way of goods, activities and everything else than their branch, suburban stores do. But without the right kind of parking, people won't take advantage of this. So we do such things as building enclosed, air conditioned walkways between the deck and the department TUNE UPS S Store, Cincinnati, Ohio. Easy access to the deck is provided by a ramp, approachable from the right lune of the street. Spanning the road, an enclosed bridge connects the deck with the store. two-wa- tween cashiers in the checkout booth and customers at strategical points in the deck (even in elevators in some cases). No one is ever far from help. - A . store. Or, when land Is a problem, we can literally straddle a city street with a deck. Modern parking facilities greatly enhance the functional aspects of any office building, apartment, hospital or other large structure. Some cities now even require a specific number of parking spaces to be included in the plans for large buildings. Why the increased emphasis on parking when some of our cities already are strangled with cars? The mass transit system in the U.S. and Canada is the automobile," Rich explains. We are finding that this is the trend, too, in virtually every country in the free that existing parking facilities are just obsolete now. The old garage or lot no Phone longer accommodates sheer numbers of cars, and It does not satisfy the requirements of todays drivers. Neither does the model T. happening so fast Elevated Cars Must Come Down The laws of physics dealing with objects that go up must come down, Leo H. Barlow, Utah Safety Councils vice president for traffic today said, also applies to the automobile. Effective May 10, Barlow said, a new state law, enacted by the 1971 Utah Legislature, prohibits altering a motor vehicle to change the ground-to-bumpdistance from what it was at the time of manufacturer. Such alterations diminish the safety features of a vehicle, he added. The only exemption from this new law covers implements of husbandry, farm tractors, road machinery and road rollers, it was pointed out. "Thus," Barlow said, "car owners who have raised the back end of their vehicles must commence the task of bringing them back to the normal manufacturers level. Too, " he this law also pointed out, makes it unlawful to lower a vehicle." The only way to stay legal, he stressed, is to leave the er automobile alone. It was designed and tested by engineers. WRECKING East of Price 437-224- 1 world. Its AUTO Such modifications referred to substantially change the center of gravity of the vehicle and this adds another hazard in its operation. v |