Architecture firm Eley Guild Hardy will be meeting with city officials and the general public next week to gain input on what city department heads and Oxford citizens wish to see in the first downtown public parking garage.

The city contracted with EGH last month to design the proposed parking garage that will be built in the city-owned parking lot behind the Oxford-University Club.

Representatives from EGH will hold design charrettes with city staff and city departments — including police, fire, electric and environmental services, as well as the Downtown Parking Advisory Commission and Historic Preservation Commissions — beginning at 8 a.m. Monday and continuing into Tuesday.

The public is invited to share their thoughts with the design team at 5 p.m. Monday at the Oxford Conference Center.

A charrette is a short, but intensive process that allows stakeholders to collaborate on their vision for the parking garage. “The garage will not be designed in the two-day sessions, nor will there be any deliverables,” said Mark Levy with the Public Works Department. “The focus will be on programming the garage and determining the key issues.”

Along with Oxford High School and the University of Mississippi’s parking garage, EGH is the lead design team for the Student Union renovations, University of Mississippi Medical Center’s School of Medicine, Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport and the Mississippi History and Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.