Parking for Wednesday Night's Concert at the Civic Club

PLEASE NOTE: SOME INFORMATION IN THIS POST WAS ADAPTED FROM AN E-MAIL INADVERTENTLY QUOTING A PATRIOT-NEWS/PENNLIVE ARTICLE AND WAS INADVERTENTLY UNCREDITED. CHRISTINE VENDEL'S ORIGINAL ARTICLE CAN BE READ HERE.
- Dick Strawser (added 7/24/2014 9:48pm)
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Since last summer, the parking rules have changed in downtown Harrisburg.

Many drivers know the new multi-space parking meters, which are concentrated downtown and near the capital complex, are enforced till 7pm now.

There is unregulated parking at the waterworks building, just north of the Civic Club.

There is limited parking on the grass in the park, at the stone wall just south of the Civic Club but not very much and, well, it's on the grass...

 

There is also abundant metered parking on State St, about 1/2 block from the Civic Club, that requires payment until 7pm at $3.00/hr (keep in mind you'll be parking before the concert starts at 6pm). Considering the River Street Garage (see next) charges $5 to park for the two-plus hours, perhaps the meters will be a good option. (Certainly cheaper than having to park if you're going to a concert in NYC...)

The River Street garage at 218 N. Second Street charges a flat-fee of $5 to park after 5 p.m. The garage closes at midnight Monday through Wednesday and 3 a.m. on other nights.

The entrance can be hard to find, but driving up 2nd Street, look for it on the left just after Sawyer's.

Currently, the automated payment machine only accepts cash. A sign on the machine says to pay the exact amount, but the machine will provide change.

(I tried this last weekend for an afternoon event and it was very confusing trying to pay the fee: there's an attendant where you enter but apparently none where you leave...)

A warning: DON'T ARRIVE EVEN ONE MINUTE BEFORE 5pm! or you will get stuck with the daily rate for your entire visit. Someone reported having arrived at 4:58 p.m. one night to attend a city council meeting and later faced a $16 parking tab.

The South Street parking garage at 220 South Street charges cheaper hourly rates than the other parking garages BUT IT CLOSES AT 7pm and the concert will be longer than one hour.

The Concert is at 6pm (if I haven't mentioned that before) with Mozart and Schubert string quintets on the program. You can read more about the concert (in general) here, and specifically about the Mozart, here, and the Schubert, here.

- Dick Strawser