"Garages could be put to really good use during the evening hours when it's not as busy downtown," says Terry Schwarz, director of the collaborative, noting that top floors of parking garages often have good acoustics, nice views, and, "make pretty nice venues."

   Especially since event parking is available on the lower floors of the same building.

   The group transformed a barren concrete parking garage into a glittering space featuring inflatable art, balloons, twinkling lights, a fountain pond, an artificial grassy green space, a sound stage for live music, and more.

   Miami, FL, indicates that the trend could catch on. A $65 million parking garage was designed to provide event space and is the site of weddings, charity events, wine tastings, and more.

   From the September issue of Downtown Idea Exchange. 

Pedro Menendez' founding of St. Augustine will be reenacted today at 10 am at the Mission of Nombre de Dios. 

Menendez wrote seven letters to his Spanish monarch from August 13, 1565 to January 30, 1566. In this second letter, written September 11, 1565, Menendez reports on confronting the French and founding St. Augustine.

   I decided to turn back to the Bahama Channel to look for a harbor where I could land near (the French) and eight leagues from that harbor by sea and six by land I found one which I had reconnoitered before on St Augustine's Day, being in about twenty nine and a half degrees.

   There on the sixth I landed 200 soldiers and on the 7th three small vessels went in with the other 300 and the married men with their wives and children and I discharged most of the artillery and ammunition. It being eight o clock on Our Lady's Day while we were engaged landing the other hundred persons who were to go on shore with some guns and ammunition and much store of provisions, the flag ship of the French Captain and Admiral came down within a half league (1½ miles) of us sailing round and round us.

   We anchored as we were making signals to them to come alongside and at three in the afternoon they made sail and went to their harbor and I went ashore and took possession in the name of Your Majesty and took the oaths before the captains and officers as Captain General and Admiral of this land and coast in conformity with Your Majesty's instructions.

   Many Indians were present, many of them chiefs, who showed themselves to be very friendly to us and appear to us to be hostile to the French.

   ... the people who have come with me are laboring with great zeal and good will and it appears to me that Our Lord visibly strengthens and encourages them in their work at which I am greatly contented. I sent on shore with the first two hundred soldiers two captains in order to throw up a trench in the place most fit to fortify themselves in and to collect there the troops that were landed so as to protect them from the enemy if he should come upon them.

   They did this so well that when I landed on Our Lady's Day to take possession of the country in Your Majesty's name, it seemed as if they had had a month's time, and if they had had shovels and other iron tools they could not have done it better. For we have none of these things - the ship laden with them not having yet arrived. I have smiths and iron so that I can make them with dispatch as I shall.

   When I shall go on shore we shall look out a more suitable place to fortify ourselves in as it is not fit where we now are. This we must do with all speed before the enemy can attack us and if they give us eight days more time we think we shall do it.

   Image from St. Francis Inn blogspot