TAVARES, Fla. -- Eyewitness News found a $20 million parking garage that's virtually empty.

Ralph Smith and Vance Jochim are serious-minded business men, but they can still appreciate the scenery.

"It's beautiful. Great place to watch the fireworks from. But a little expensive by today's standards--wouldn't you say?" Smith said as he stood atop of Lake County's 8-story, $20 million parking garage in downtown Tavares.

Construction began in May 2008. The garage opened this June with elevators and 1,547 parking spaces. Critics say that's about 1,000 spaces too many.

"Either they're planning for a really big city at some point in time … or somebody pushed through a project that didn't have a sound basis for it,” Jochim said.

Around 1:00pm on a Tuesday afternoon, when the court had an average caseload, Eyewitness News took a tour of the entire garage. On Level 1, there were 62 vehicles. There were 31 on Level 2, 80 on Level 3, 24 on Level 4 and only 10 on Level 5.

Level 6 had 20 county vehicles and another 17 on Level 7. On the roof were Smith and Jochim and his '65 Mustang convertible. That was a total of 244 vehicles in a garage built to hold six times that many.

Eyewitness News checked again on a Monday morning and counted 276 cars. On the following Friday, at 11:00am, there were 238.

"You don't think it was over built?" WFTV reporter Berndt Peterson asked county commission chairman Welton Cadwell.

“No,” Cadwell said.

Cadwell says pre-garage downtown Tavares was a parking nightmare.

"We had to provide X amount of spaces. The city required that. And if we were going to build onto the courthouse and build these other buildings, the city required we provide parking,” he said.

But because of budget cuts, the judicial center expansion has been seriously scaled back.

"This is my hometown. I don't like an 8-story structure out there,” resident Jimmy Conner said. "But, it's here and it's not going anywhere."

On the roof, Smith and Jochim believe Tavares' tallest building has just one redeeming quality.

"A gorgeous view,” Jochim said.

Garage supporters, including Tavares city leaders, say it will be full for special events, especially when the city's marina and seaplane projects are completed.