City says Seneca Street garage closed for safety; council outlines multi‑phase redevelopment amid business concerns

The City of Ithaca told the Common Council on May 6 that the Seneca Street parking garage will remain closed because repeated freeze‑thaw damage has caused significant concrete spalling and created a public‑safety risk. City Manager Mr. Recchio said inspectors found failing concrete panels—particularly on the south side where vehicles and pedestrians pass—making reopening unsafe without costly repairs.

"The concrete has been outside for about 50 some years," the city manager said, noting a short‑term repair addressing an elevator‑shaft issue would cost up to several hundred thousand dollars while broader structural work to extend the garage’s useful life would run into the millions. He said an immediate set of removals—taking off several damaged concrete panels—will be undertaken to reopen the adjacent sidewalk and allow a nearby bus stop to operate again, but that removing panels may further compromise the structure and reopening the garage may still be infeasible.

Planning Director Lisa Nicholas walked the council through a three‑phase redevelopment process the city would use if it moves the parcel from municipal parking to a private development: establish framework and funding (about eight months), project development including an RFP and exclusive negotiations (about eight months), and approvals including the IURA’s approval of a disposition and development agreement and subsequent municipal entitlements (about eight months). She estimated that, if the city starts the process now, it could be roughly 24 months before construction could begin, and noted delays are possible.

Councilors repeatedly urged staff to provide fuller engineering cost estimates and timelines. The city manager said existing engineering reports identified at least $2,100,000 in needed repairs: roughly $200,000 immediately and $1.9 million within a year, and that additional emergency assessments were ongoing. He said the city’s longstanding capital project had funds targeted to immediate repairs but was not funded to cover multi‑million‑dollar structural restoration.

Business owners and residents told the council that the garage closure and a temporary TCAT bus stop relocation—currently sited adjacent to Moosewood restaurant’s patio and the DeWitt Mall frontage—have already caused lost revenue, fumes and noise complaints, and safety and visibility problems for customers. Danica Wilcox, who identified herself as the second‑generation owner of Moosewood, said the patio accounts for about 25% of annual revenue and that daily fumes and blocked visibility have prevented terrace seating. "We've had negligible response from the city," she said during public comment.

Other downtown proprietors described canceled reservations, delivery and guest‑parking problems, and urged the city to find interim parking and better signage to direct motorists to available garages. Several public commenters and some councilors urged the city to favor mixed‑use redevelopment without structured parking, arguing the parcel’s central location is better used for housing and ground‑floor retail.

The mayor said he would convene a small staff working group with the two alderpersons representing the affected area to develop options and transmit them to the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA). City staff pledged to provide an updated timeline for reopening the sidewalk and a plan for the bus stop by the end of the week and to continue coordinating with TCAT on alternative drop‑off locations.

Next steps: the city will remove damaged panels to secure the sidewalk and work with TCAT and downtown stakeholders on interim parking and transit accommodations while staff complete engineering assessments and begin the redevelopment process described by planning staff.