Annapolis adds marketing campaign ahead of Hillman Garage demolition
Ahead of a planned demolition and reconstruction of Hillman Garage in February, Annapolis held a public event Wednesday night to show residents, business owners and visitors how downtown is expected to change when the 425-car garage goes offline.
Dharma Pachner, the founder and creative director of Contrast & Co., an Annapolis-based public relations firm, led a presentation at Maryland Hall of a marketing campaign called “Access Annapolis” that will roll out in the coming weeks.
Pachner sifted through slides of bright, colorful posters, billboards and bus wraps and, digital ads like email blasts and social media blasts, that will be used in the coming months. The ads showed steamed crabs, sails, midshipmen and other Annapolis-centric images paired with phrases like “Annapolis is open” and “Heading downtown? Hop on the trolley” to convey other transportation options.
The campaign is meant to convey that while the garage is out of commission, other parking and transportation options will be available, including trolleys, on-demand rides and even an electric ferry.
“At a very high level, we were trying to think about, how do we convey this tactical message around the garage?” Pachner said. “But how do we also do that in a way that still reflects that Annapolis is open and how do we do it in a way that reflects the long-term vision of what this garage is.”
Hillman Garage was deemed at the end of its operational life nearly a decade ago. A modern 590-space parking structure will be built in its place and is expected to offer amenities like electric vehicle charging stations, solar panels and a stormwater management system. Construction is expected to take 14 months.
Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. is overseeing the project. The company is part of AMRP, the consortium tapped late last year by the city to construct the garage and redevelop City Dock for around $60 million. Pachner was hired to create the marketing campaign by AMRP.
Mayor Gavin Buckley has envisioned the project as the centerpiece of his second term in office. The largest infrastructure project in city history is meant to revitalize the city’s most valuable parking asset, protect the downtown against climate change, and recondition residents and visitors to use transportation alternatives other than cars, Buckley said.
“We have a lot of parking in Annapolis. We have more of a walking problem than a parking problem, but people don’t want to walk or travel between our parking assets,” Buckley said. “So making it convenient and fun to move between those assets you see all over the city is going to be a goal.”
In recent months, developers have held meetings with residents and business owners to solicit feedback on the project.
The main concern has been about the parking alternatives the city plans to implement while the garage is under construction. Residents have worried that cars that typically park in the garage will be forced into residential neighborhoods where parking spots are already at a premium. Business owners, meanwhile, are anxious about the inconvenience that construction could cause shoppers who may be deterred from visiting the area if they can’t find parking.
When the garage closes, the 120 or so city employees who park in Hillman will be relocated to Park Place Garage. The 128 paid monthly pass holders will be given the choice to move to Gotts or Knighton Garage. Plans are also in the works to allow hospitality workers whose jobs are downtown to park at St. Mary’s Parish or the Taylor Funeral Home, Buckley said.
To help people get
around the city, Buckley has proposed three options: a second circulator bus that commutes from Park Place to the waterfront; adding a 10-minute trolley that completes loops from Calvert Street to downtown and on-demand micro-transit services, the city’s version of Uber or Lyft.
Alderwoman Elly Tierney, a Ward 1 Democrat who represents the Historic District, has sought to ease concerns from her constituents by urging them to trust the professionals hired to find solutions to the parking issues. Via Transportation Inc., a New York-based firm, is part of AMRP and is
responsible for that aspect of the project.
Tierney said she has repeated a saying she learned while working in construction.
“My slogan is ‘the inconvenience is temporary and the result is permanent,’“Tierney said, alluding to the potential headaches and disruption that will come with such a major infrastructure project that will eventually go away once the garage is built, leaving the downtown area in a better position than it was before.
“This messaging is important,” she said. “Nobody wants to feel like they are in the dark.”