U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Stuttgart leaders have started advising members of the military community to prepare for impacts to parking at Panzer Kaserne as crews start setting up for the Independence Day event scheduled for July 4.
Impacts to parking and traffic will start as soon as the evening of Monday, July 1. Starting at 8 p.m. parking of vehicles in the MWR lemon lot and the adjacent row of parking in the main Exchange lot will be suspended.
On Tuesday, July 2, parking will be suspended at 7 a.m. in all lots between buildings 2914/2915 (554th MP Company and MWR/ACS/USO building) and buildings 2917/2918 (CYS gym/old Patch on Panzer Elementary School). Additional spaces in the main Exchange lot will be impacted starting that same day at 8 p.m.
On Wednesday, July 3, the streets between the main Exchange parking lot and buildings 2913 (Welcome Center), 2914 and 2915 will close. Traffic will be rerouted to the street between buildings 2917/2918 and Building 2996 (Vet Clinic). Parking in the lot at Stuttgart Elementary School and Stuttgart High School will be suspended at 7 a.m. that day, while parking will be suspended for the entire main Exchange parking lot at 8 p.m. that evening. All impacted lots will remain closed until the morning of July 5.
“We want to share this information with the entire community so they know what to expect,” said USAG Stuttgart Police Chief Johnnie Kibler. “Vehicles that remain in parking lots after the announced times will be towed at the owner’s expense. We want to avoid that situation so we are sharing this information as early as we can to ensure community members have plenty of time to plan.”
The Independence Day event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. July 4. However, crews need time and space to set up activities safely. Work has already started to lay electrical wiring needed for the event. The phased closure of roads and parking lots assists greatly with the effort.
People conducting business at the main Exchange on July 3, should expect less parking than normal. People conducting business at the main Exchange on July 4 should expect no parking in the main lot.
Parking for the event itself will be EXTREMELY limited. Garrison officials are encouraging people who live on Patch, Kelley, or Robinson Barracks to ride shuttle buses, which will be running a special schedule on July 4. More information will be provided on the special schedule in the coming days.
The garrison has again extended an invitation to its German neighbors who are interested in attending the event. Similar to 2023, crews will set up a temporary fence around the event area. That area will be considered “off post.” Those who wish to access other areas of Panzer Kaserne (i.e. Galaxy Bowling Center, chapel, etc. will need to show their DoD ID card at one of the gates controlling access out of the event area.
Additional information on the event will be shared in the coming days on the StuttgartCitizen.com website, on the garrison app, and on the garrison Facebook page. Additional information is also available on the Stuttgart Family and MWR website at https://stuttgart.armymwr.com/happenings/ID42024.