D’Andre Baker and Tim Curry were hard at work Wednesday morning installing four parking kiosks on the two-block Kalamazoo Mall. Baker and Curry work for the company contracted by the city to install and help maintain the parking kiosks.
Baker said you’ll need to know your license plate number to pay at the kiosk, which accepts cash, coins, credit cards or an app.
“Put your money in, print you a ticket, go on and enjoy your day,” Baker said.
Kathy Beebe, the owner of Caffè Casa said she worries that losing free parking will cost her customers who often pull up to pop in and out for their morning coffee.
“Not spending any more than 25 or 30 minutes in the café and having to pay to do that? They're going to instead find themselves going through a drive-through somewhere," Beebe said, "or go someplace where they have a giant parking lot and they can park for free.”
All four kiosks are expected to be fully operational and in service on Friday.
Ninety minutes of free parking is available in two nearby parking ramps.
Bob Greziano was shopping Wednesday morning on the Kalamazoo Mall. He said he often shops with someone who’s disabled and parking in the ramp may not work for her.
“It's harder for her to have to walk this distance where it would be a lot easier if she could have parked a lot closer to the store that we were shopping in,” Greziano said.
Handicapped parking is available throughout the Mall, though it was taken when Greziano was shopping.
Fifteen-minute parking is 50 cents, and the maximum time you can park in the Kalamazoo Mall is 90 minutes for $3, or $2 for an hour. The machine can take $1 and $5 bills, but does not give change.
Parking is free on Sundays and holidays.
