York reader afflicted with ‘storiophilia’ finds parking garages fascinating, too
Publicity associated with York’s East Market Street Parking Garage upon its opening in 1969 pointed to its modern amenities. An often overlooked feature of the garage is its lobby fountain. Here, Linda Oatman and Brad Smith examine the fountain after it was vandalized in 2004. Today, the fountain is dry. Background posts: Don’t know much about York County history? – Part II, Stetler Dodge transition indicative of other York-area changes and For decades, York’s underground comfort stations spelled relief.
Downtown York boasts of an artifact of history that points to another artifact.
A reader of my recent York Sunday News column (It’s not striking, but blocky parking garage tells a story of York) added to the discussion on York’s East Market Street Parking Garage.
He noted that an interesting sign is on the building located across from the parking garage on the northeast corner of Duke and Market streets… .
Sign is hidden in plain site.
The sign, located between the first and second floors, states: “Member, Park and Shop, Free Parking, New Municipal Garage.”
So, it’s been sitting there overlooked since the garage opened about 40 years ago.
Wonder how many businesses have been in there since? The sign may have been there to raise awareness that motorists could make a left turn into the parking garage on the north side of an island in front of the garage. It’s a weird maneuver because it seems that you’re going against eastbound, one-way Market Street traffic.
Anyway, the reader is a kindred spirit in finding something as commonplace as a parking garage interesting.
“I am an obsessive genealogist, which is the expression of an underlying storiophilia (I made that up by joining the Italian word for history and the greek word for love)” he wrote, “so I generally enjoy your pieces on local history.”
