Parking will be free in downtown Iowa City on Thanksgiving and parking in the ramps will also be free Saturday this week. You’ll still have to feed the meters and pay to park in a ramp on Friday, when spaces may well fill up, because in addition to the annual post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy of Black Friday, it’s also the final home football game for the Hawkeyes. Kickoff at Kinnick will be 3 p.m.
Parking in the ramps is free on Saturday to encourage people to do their holiday shopping downtown, according to the city. That encouragement does not extend as far as metered parking on the streets, however, so you’ll still need to pay to park in those spots.
There will be no bus service on Thursday, but all Iowa City buses will be fare-free on Friday and Saturday. And because of the Iowa-Nebraska football game on Friday, buses will be running on Saturday gameday schedule instead of their normal weekday one.
All city offices and facilities in Iowa City will be closed on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving. Most will remain closed on Friday, but the Iowa City Public Library will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Robert A. Lee Recreation Center and Mercer Park Aquatic Center will both be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The pools at the centers will open at 1 p.m.
There will be no garbage, recycling or organics collections on Thanksgiving. Residents whose normal collection day is Thursday should put their bins out on Friday morning, when curbside service resumes.
