Parking plan outlined for Fireflies’ first game

Planning for parking around Spirit Communications Park is in full swing as the Columbia Fireflies practice for the baseball team’s opening night April 14.

More than a dozen entrances to parking lots accessible by seven different streets around the stadium will be available for the inaugural game, city and team officials said Monday.

Parking for the stadium includes 1,155 general parking spots, 750 reserved parking spots and 32 handicap-accessible parking spots available on the Bull Street campus. An additional 1,500 spots are available on state-owned Colonial Drive parking lots across from the campus.

Game-goers can expect plenty of signs directing them to available parking, with attendants at each lot, Fireflies President John Katz said.

“We will have plenty of parking for the sell-out crowd we expect on opening night and all of the other big nights we expect during the spring and summer,” he said.

General parking will be available in three lots off of by Gregg Street, near Colonial Drive,and three other lots off of Harden Street, Bull Street and Colonial Drive. Some lots at the Department of Mental Health, Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Department of Social Services will open for parking at 5 p.m. while other lots will open up at 6 p.m.

General parking will cost $3 and comes with free trolley service to the main plaza outside of the stadium.

Motorists with reserved parking can do so in specified lots off of Freed Drive and Williams and Barnwell streets.

City and team officials are asking fans not to park in nearby neighborhoods.

This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Parking plan outlined for Fireflies’ first game."