Free holiday parking at Parkade in Bellingham

The city of Bellingham is offering free parking again this year for the holiday season, but with a caveat — it is only on the first floor of the Parkade building.

Four hours of free parking is available on the first floor of the structure at 1300 Commercial St. from Friday, Nov. 27, through Dec. 24. In previous years the free parking was throughout downtown, but this year the city wanted to highlight the underutilized Parkade building, also known as the Commercial Street Parking Garage.

“The Commercial Street Parking Garage is often overlooked as a prime location to park in downtown Bellingham, yet it’s only two to four blocks from most restaurants, shops and businesses in downtown,” said Nick Hartrich, executive director of the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, in a news release. He added that there are more than 70 spaces available on the first floor.

The city has been doing renovations to the building and recently turned on a new 24-hour security camera system.

Dave Gallagher

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 1:20 AM with the headline "Free holiday parking at Parkade in Bellingham."