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A parking squeeze may be coming to downtown Altoona, unbelievable as that may sound.

It's a function of planned development - some already reported, much still unveiled.

In spite of many empty buildings, the surge of proposals has the Altoona Parking Authority consulting a 2000 study that recommended a new parking garage on 12th Avenue.

If the authority had $8 million in the bank, it would authorize the design and construct a garage right now, Executive Director Patrick Miller said last week.

But the authority doesn't have $8 million, and it's maxed out on debt for at least another three and a half years, he said.

For now, it's making do by leasing space on private lots, like a former tire shop on 16th Street, which will handle overflow parking from Penn State Altoona's growing Devorris Downtown Center - across from the proposed garage site.

That kind of lease arrangement will hold off the squeeze for a while, Miller said. But not forever.

"[Still], it's a good problem to have," said Mayor Wayne Hippo of the impending squeeze.

"It's great we need to be thinking about this," said Jane Sheffield, executive director of the Allegheny Ridge Corporation, whose Heritage Discovery Center is also across from the garage site.

A lack of parking was the catalyst that drove retail business out of constricted downtowns and onto land-rich suburban "boulevards" in the first place, starting after World War II.

In Altoona, it all went to Pleasant Valley.

Downtown has struggled since then, with seemingly endless promises and backsliding. But it seems finally to be making a comeback.

That comeback has relied on the Devorris center, which is spawning nearby multi-use projects, with businesses on the first floors and housing upstairs. One of them is the former Vipond's building - which includes student housing - the former Flower Shoppe, the former Russell Music building and the former McCrory's.

Yet lack of parking could stifle the plans for growth.

"It's hard to plan for additional growth when you're up against it [problems with parking]," said state Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr., R-Blair.

He's trying to help. At the request of the authority, last year he earmarked between $1 million and $1.5 million for a new garage in the state Capital Budget.

"That's my No. 1 project," he said.

Given that designation and the amount he's asking, he believes that the grant is "reasonably doable," provided the authority and other potential funding sources do their parts.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, is one of those other potential funding sources.

Shuster would be "willing to hear what the authority has in mind," said spokesman Jeff Urbanchuk. But it's impossible to give assurance for an earmark, he said.

Broad, grassroots support and proof of need would help, he said.

The study that documents the need remains relevant - in fact, it's more relevant now than in 2000, Miller said.

Study consultant Rich and Associates of Michigan recommended making an additional 700 parking stalls available through a combination of a garage, decreasing demand by use of transportation alternatives and making more efficient use of existing spaces.

Rich recommended building a 448-stall structure that would realize a net gain of 348 spaces - because it would cover an existing surface lot.

The consultant recommended making the garage capable of holding additional decks, so the authority could add stalls at relatively low cost.

Penn State Altoona supports the idea of a new garage, provided the authority's documentation is ironclad, said college Business Manager Andy Vavreck. But the college prefers to emphasize biking, walking and use of mass transit, he said.

"We want to create a more sustainable world," he said.

Penn State's backing could be critical for an earmark, Hippo said.

Sheffield likes Rich and Associates' idea of a public-private partnership, with retail stores on the ground floor of a garage to help fund the project.

However, she wants to ensure that adding parking spaces doesn't mean knocking down reusable buildings.

The full-scale proposal for a garage on the 1400 block of 12th Avenue would mean demolishing a house and the former Blair Sign Co. building across the alley, Miller said.

If the authority can't raise enough money for the full-scale project, it could settle for a smaller structure that wouldn't involve demolition, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.