The first parking garage, built in the Tri-Cities, opens to the community on Monday.

The 5-story garage is across the street from Kadlec Regional Medical Center, and will hopefully help alleviate its number one complaint, parking.

It is something Richland Mayor Robert Thompson says is becoming an example for future development. He adds the idea has always been to build up instead of out, now that the Tri-Cities has seen exponential growth.

"We are going to get the opportunity to see how it works, and I think others will learn from that. Kadlec is right, these things aren't cheap to build, they are just not but again if you start doing the math and look at the advantage to your constituents, whether it is the city of Richland or a medical patient, it just makes a great deal of sense to do what they've done," says Thompson.

The Kadlec parking garage will open August 1st and is free to patients and visitors. It also has charging stations for vehicles and elevator access from each floor.

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