In 1964, the city of Durham, NC, began construction on its first parking garage. The Corcoran Parking Garage is still heavily used more than 45 years later, providing daytime parking for downtown workers and evening parking for theater-goers at the Durham Performing Arts Center and even baseball fans at the nearby Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Renovations on the aging garage began last year, and are being wrapped up this month. Among the new features are 200 LED lighting fixtures, which dramatically improve visibility in the newly-painted garage.
A look at Durham's oldest parking deck after it was built in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Endangered Durham.
I walked through the deck after a recent Durham Bulls game to get footage of the new lights and I kept declaring how amazing it was. As a former Durham resident, I’ve actually been inside this deck when it was lit with the dingy metal halide lights, and the deck felt older and not as safe. The difference with the new LED lights was truly extraordinary. There were no shadows and the signage was easily readable.
City officials say the new LED fixtures use only one-fifth of the energy consumed by the metal halide fixtures they replaced. At the 0:52 mark in this video, you’ll really notice the dramatic difference in lighting if you look at the contrast of the orange high pressure sodium streetlight glowing in front of the garage.
As part of other renovations, the City of Durham is currently installing LED lighting in another downtown parking deck and has plans for yet another. The Bull City, as it’s affectionately called by locals, joined the LED City program last month, and plans to continue considering energy-efficient LED lighting as it renovates and constructs new buildings and structures.
For a look at some original photos of the Corcoran Parking Garage as it was being built in 1964, check out this blog post on Endangered Durham.
