June 25, 2004

Update on parking alternatives for DNC

Many of the questions that MGH employees, patients and visitors are asking regarding the upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC) — to be held July 26 to 29 at the Fleet Center — are related to parking issues.

Below are some answers to these questions.

• Employees who park in the Nashua Street (Orange) lot and the North Station (Fleet Center) garage will be able to park in the new Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care garage from July 6 to Aug. 9. The Yawkey garage is located beside the Fruit Street garage and can be accessed from North Grove Street or Cambridge Street (See map below). Employees who park there must show their MGH photo ID badge and Orange lot or Fleet Center garage parking coupon book.
• Employees who park in the Garden (Lomasney/Bubble) garage can continue to park there. Employees will be able to exit the garage and proceed up Staniford Street to Cambridge Street.
• Evening- and night-shift employees who currently are members of the parking program and have garage access cards to the Fruit Street and Parkman garages will continue to park there. The entry time on their cards will be changed for the week to allow access at 2 pm.
• Additional off-site parking locations are being investigated for evening- and night-shift employees. More information will be forthcoming when details have been finalized.
• For those who currently have access cards to park in 50 Staniford St., the Holiday Inn or Hawthorne Place locations, there will be no change.
• The Museum of Science is considering closing early during the convention. If this happens, it will not affect MGH parkers who currently use the Museum of Science garage.
• The parking lots at the MGH Chelsea, Charlestown and Revere health centers will NOT be available for employees on the main campus who wish to park at those locations and take the shuttle to the hospital. Those parking lots will only be available for health center staff and patients.

MGH Police, Security and Outside Services staff will be monitoring the Fruit Street and Parkman Street garages. They will ensure that parking spaces are available for MGH patients and/or their visitors and not taken by members of the general public who are visiting the city because of the DNC.

"For those employees who usually drive to work, we encourage them to take public transportation during the convention if they can," says Bonnie Michelman, director of MGH Police, Security and Outside Services and chair of the hospital's DNC planning committee. "For employees who must drive in, these alternate parking options should accommodate those who are currently part of the parking program."

For more information about hospital plans for the DNC, visit www2.massgeneral.org/dnc.