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Courtney Menzies was there today and has this story.

Parking has always been a problem in downtown Belize City, but now there are 34 spaces available for shoppers, diners, or anyone who just wants to make a bank run.

The David Fonseca parking lot was opened today as a means to rejuvenate the dying downtown area - at a small cost, of course.

Henry Charles Usher, Area Rep., Fort George
"I think it's all part of the rejuvenation of Belize City that you see as the main focus of the Belize City Council since being elected in 2018. This area, Regent Street was once a vibrant area with shopping, dining, movie theaters, culture with Bliss. We need to bring back that type of atmosphere, that type of community initiative and parking is just a small part of it but it's certainly part of it. Most Belizeans now have a vehicle and they want to be able to park their vehicle in a secure location. With the cameras that are here, the fact that this is a 24 hour facility it will certainly encourage persons to come here and enjoy all Belize City Downtown has to offer."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"We were very proactive in getting this facility completed. I know it has been a long and drawn out process but we wanted to get it right. It will enhance off street parking in the downtown area, it's a safe area, it is manned by cameras, fully automated, all the sort of modern smart solutions are integrated into the system so it should enhance the parking meters, because it's two sort of parking you have, off street and on street and so the parking meters really facilitate on street parking and this would facilitate parking."

Courtney Menzies:
"Do you believe that residents have the appetite for more paid parking?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"Yes they do. People visit areas all across the city, this is our urban setting, and they're always driving around looking for parking, safe parking areas. People have that appetite. Romac's parking lot has been doing great in this area and so this will enhance Romac's. There's always been more parking and I see where this first model will be expanded all across the city. We have over 2,000 abandoned lots."

And they're projecting major revenues from the parking lot and a 3 year return on the investment - leading the council to plan for many more:

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"We see it, based on our projects, that we could earn revenues in the neighborhood of $4.5k per week so if you quantify that across a month you're looking at close to $18,000. Over a year you're looking at close to $200,000 in revenue from this parking facility. If we do ten of these all across the city, you could do the maths, but we need the collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources. We did an exercise where we identified 40 abandoned lots in the city and we sent that to the ministry to have them see how they could acquire those abandoned lots to turn them from just being nuisance to society and turn them into productive spaces."

"I believe based on our projections and our financial model, in roughly about 2 and a half years. The total project ran us about $295,000 with the hot mix being the most expensive component along with the smart technology. But we see where we are identifying and investing in assets that are revenue generating. If we are able to turn abandoned lots all across this city into smart parking facilities, community parks, community playgrounds, community student hubs, this is the sort of rejuvenation we need in our city."

But the downtown doesn't just need parking - it needs activities to attract more people. Usher says they're working on that.

Courtney Menzies:
"In terms of the amenities you mentioned, how do we encourage more people to build these restaurants and these movie theaters here?"

Henry Charles Usher, Area Rep., Fort George
"Well you're seeing the government pass certain legislation to encourage MSME's, encourage businesses and I think that is a good first step. But really it's about directing people downtown as well, you have to be able to say, visitors come and see what all we have downtown. And we have to be able to have the facilities, the attractions that people want to come to. Certainly we would want the Bliss to always be filled when there is an event happening there, the commercial sector is going to do their part because they realize if more persons come down there they will have more customers so I think it's a community, it's a joint effort and this will really focus on bringing back Belize City downtown."

The cost to park inside the lot is $3 an hour.