Vandalism spurs hiring of Bangor garage guard

BANGOR – Vandalism and other inappropriate behavior around the Pickering Square Parking Garage have prompted the city and its parking garage operator to hire a uniformed security guard.

The guard, who will work up to 20 hours a week, will patrol the garage and the BAT Community Connector bus waiting area, according to Sally Bilancia, a city development officer who works closely with the downtown business community.

The parking garage and surrounding area are attractive to many, including vagrants and hooligans, because they offer public restrooms and an enclosed waiting area for BAT riders in a central downtown spot. Because of its configuration, however, there are parts of the parking garage that are hidden from public view.

Despite efforts by parking garage staff, bus drivers and police to monitor the area, there hasn’t been a consistent deterrent.

The guard, who will be hired in the next week or so, will work a varying, unpredictable schedule, Bilancia said Friday.

“Having a uniformed authority figure there will be a deterrent to some of the behavior there,” Bilancia said. “I do want to make it clear it is not the patrons of the [BAT Community Connector] buses that are causing the problems.

“There are people who don’t need to be there. We’ve had quite a few complaints from people who are feeling unsafe in the parking garage,” she said.

“It is a safe place to be but we want to make sure people feel safe,” she said. “If this doesn’t work, we’ll try something different.”

The decision this week to hire a guard comes about a month after problematic activity at and around the garage brought about the temporary closure of the garage’s public restrooms.

While closing the restrooms temporarily improved the situation, it is not considered a good long-term solution for those in need of those facilities, Bilancia, parking garage Manager Parke Clemmons, Police Chief Ron Gastia, BAT Superintendent Joe McNeil, and Assistant City Manager Robert Farrar wrote in a background memo to city councilors.

The restrooms will reopen once the guard is on board, Bilancia said.

Besides the security guard, the city’s bicycle police will be checking the parking garage as part of their nightly patrols now that warm weather has arrived, she said.

The cost of hiring the guard, estimated at about $270 a week, will be split among the city’s parking fund, the Bangor Center Corp. and Republic Parking.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

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