Plans for the proposed 500-vehicle parking garage were presented before the State College Borough Council and community members Thursday.

Ed Holmes, parking/facilities coordinator, said the parking garage's plans were the "latest schematic design," which the borough will use for the garage.

Construction of the parking garage will start on the 200 block of South Fraser Street late this August and will cost the borough around $12.5 million. Council member Cathy Dauler said the garage will be completed by late July 2005. Timothy Haahs & Associates is handling the architecture and engineering for the parking garage.

Plans for the six-story structure include a large column with glass windows at the corner of West Beaver Avenue and Fraser Street, designed to accommodate two glass-backed elevators and a windowed stairwell, intended for aesthetics as well as security.

"The glass backs on elevators will act as passive security. If someone's visual, they're a lot less likely to do something freakish," said Ed Rahme, who is the project manager and architect for Timothy Haahs & Associates.

"Nobody likes to walk to a dark stairwell," he added.

A third elevator may be added at the opposite end of the structure.

Public works director Mark Whitfield said other security measures have also been considered, such as cameras and a security kiosk. He added that details about their implementation are pending.

Commercial space will be incorporated into the design along West Beaver Avenue where the structure will look more like an office building than a parking garage. Holmes said that because of heightened interest from residents, the possibility of using this kind of façade along Fraser Street, which is currently designed to look like other State College garages, would be discussed.

Planning commission chairman Art Anderson said several aspects of the proposed structure concern him, such as drivers using the facility as a shortcut when going to the post office on Fraser Street.

As of now, the entrance to the structure would be located on West Beaver Avenue and would permit cars to drive through without parking and exit onto Fraser Street free of charge.

Whitfield said he was not concerned by the possibility of people using it as a shortcut, and the design would allow drivers to easily exit the facility if it is full.

To accommodate the new parking garage, Whitfield said the borough would consider reducing the three-phase traffic signal at the intersection of Beaver Avenue and Fraser Street to a two-phase signal to improve the area's traffic flow.

Council member Elizabeth Goreham said the structure is too tall to comply with the building ordinances in State College and needs to be reduced by one story.

"It's a little out of scale ... it exceeds the zoning restrictions by 8 feet," she said. The sixth story would cost the borough an additional $175,000 per year, Goreham said.

Other residents were also concerned by the parking facility's size.

Rahme said questions have been raised by older residents regarding the modernity of the structure. "Younger folk tend to be much more willing to go with modern architecture," he said.

Ferguson Township resident John Bach said he felt the garage would help continue development downtown, but that it is too large for the area.

"It seems like the first step toward a neighborhood on Fraser Street. I'm not particularly happy ... It overshadows other structures," Bach said.

Timothy Haahs & Associates project engineer Robin Neff said she could not foresee a reduction in the structure's height in the design.

"We can alleviate the perception of height by putting a canopy down low ... and putting the garage further back from Beaver Avenue," she said.

Karen Bach, a Ferguson Township resident, said building the parking garage must be done to accommodate the parking demand, but she fears the effects it will have on State College.

"If people are going to be attracted to the city, then there has to be adequate parking," Bach said. "They'll build it, they'll come. [The city] will grow, and you won't recognize State College in another 25 years."