GLENDALE : Parking Deal Offered for Theatergoers

After complaints about parking problems around the renovated Alex Theatre, the city of Glendale is offering free parking to theatergoers who dine at participating restaurants.

So far, more than 20 restaurants citywide have agreed to take part in the program in time for the April 7 opening of “Mame” at the Alex.

The program allows theater patrons who dine at one of the restaurants to receive a free pass to park at a garage on North Brand Boulevard before a theater performance, said Jeanne Armstrong, director of redevelopment. Other theater patrons will be allowed to park for $2.50.

Officials plan to launch the program in the next few weeks by sending flyers explaining the venture to Alex season ticket-holders and placing advertisements for parking passes in participating restaurants’ windows.

The effort stems from parking problems experienced in areas around the 69-year-old landmark theater during the three-week run of “Sayonara.” Parking snafus occurred primarily because the 2,000-space Glendale Galleria parking structure was closed for repairs during the show, overloading other lots and meter spaces, Armstrong said. Two-thirds of the spaces in the Galleria structure are now open.

Parking in the immediate vicinity of the 1,463-seat theater during the first musical in a three-show series was also full because theatergoers were unaware of parking lots located several blocks away that remained largely empty.

“It’s not that there’s a lack of parking, it’s just that people don’t know how to get to it,” Armstrong said.

To inform patrons of alternate parking, the city plans to erect signs along Brand Boulevard pointing ticket-holders toward alternative lots on Maryland Avenue and Orange Street.

The city will evaluate the parking pass program after the theater’s third musical, “Fame,” closes in June.