The Linny Pacillo Parking Garage is a 10 story parking garage in downtown

Downtown (Anchorage)

Downtown Anchorage is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Anchorage, Alaska. Considered the central business district of Anchorage, Downtown has many office buildings, cultural points of interest, shopping areas, as well as dining and nightlife attractions...

 Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. The upper nine stories are for parking, with the first story serving as retail space. The structure contains a total of 368830 square feet (34,265.4 m²), including the retail space. Owned by the state government of Alaska, it provides 844 parking spaces for state employees, plus 40 spaces for visitors. The garage sits across from and services the Robert B. Atwood Building

Robert B. Atwood Building

The Robert B. Atwood Building is an office building in Downtown Anchorage, Alaska. The building houses government offices for the State of Alaska. Standing at 20 stories and 81 m , it is the second-tallest building in Alaska. The building was formerly known as the Bank of America Center...

. The garage was built to replace parking spaces in downtown which were displaced by the construction of the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. The garage was designed by architects Koonce Pfeffer Bettis Inc. Construction of the garage began on February 1, 2007 and it opened on September 8, 2008. Tenants on the first floor are Northrim Bank, who have been inaugural tenants of the facility, and the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, who opened their downtown Anchorage office in the facility on November 9, 2010. A restaurant was slated to open on the first floor; however, that portion of retail space remains vacant.

Name

The garage is named after Carolyn "Linny" Pacillo (September 2, 1959 - November 17, 2006). Her family operated Courtney's Tudor Service on East Tudor Road, which was one of the very last remaining independent gas stations in Anchorage. The Pacillo family sold the station in 2003, which has since gone out of business. Linny Pacillo, along with her sister Susan, became pop heroes in Anchorage (and later elsewhere) by donning tutus and plugging parking meters downtown to protest strict parking enforcement. They were dubbed The Parking Fairies. State Senator

Alaska Senate

The Alaska Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Senate consists of twenty members, each of whom represents an equal amount of districts with populations of about 31,347 people . Senators serve four-year terms, without term...

 Johnny Ellis

Johnny Ellis

Johnny Ellis is a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate, representing District L since 1992. He currently serves as the Senate Majority Leader. Previously he was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1986 through 1992....

, a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 whose district includes downtown Anchorage, sponsored the bill naming the garage for Pacillo. The Anchorage Assembly

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

 approved the name in February 2007.

Art

The art in the garage, under the 1 Percent for Art Program, includes art inspired by Alaska flora and fauna on each garage level, a piece in the main elevator lobby that tells the Parking Fairies story, and a mural over the Seventh Avenue exit titled "Focus on Statehood

Alaska Statehood Act

The Alaska Statehood Act was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 7, 1958, allowing Alaska to become the 49th U.S. state on January 3, 1959.-History: the road to Statehood:...

" that features four men instrumental in Alaska's becoming a state: Bob Atwood

Robert Atwood

Robert Bruce Atwood was the long-time editor and publisher of the Anchorage Times, and a proponent of Alaska statehood.-Biography:...

, Bill Egan, Bob Bartlett

Bob Bartlett

Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party.Bartlett was born in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from the University of Alaska in 1925, Bartlett began his career in politics...

 and Ernest Gruening

Ernest Gruening

Ernest Henry Gruening was an American journalist and Democrat who was the Governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 until 1969.-Early life:...

.