A huge crane operating behind the Choice Cigarette Discount Outlet on Pennsylvania Avenue will ultimately determine the cost of a five-level parking garage included in plans for Impact Warren.

Warren Mayor Mark Phillips and city councilman David See said Thursday that the crane is a sign that a new 600-plus space parking garage in Warren is closer than people think.

In fact, Phillips said construction could begin as early as March, a couple of months earlier than originally projected.

"It's on an aggressive schedule," See said. "The (Impact Warren) developer will be able to finalize the bid documents probably next month."

But first, the crane.

See said the crane belongs to Grout Systems, Inc., Wadsworth, Ohio, which is currently drilling to place a 40-foot concrete cylinder in the ground. Next week, testing will be done to see just how much weight that concrete cylinder can hold.

See said the company is drilling 40 feet deep because that's how far previous core borings went before hitting a substantial gravel footing.

See said the 40-foot concrete cylinder is going to be tested "to failure." "They're going to break it," he said.

Ultimately, See said he hopes tests will show the concrete cylinder can handle significantly more weight than the weight the cylinder would be required to bear if it were part of a support system for the parking garage. If that's the case, See said hundreds of thousands of dollars could be saved on the construction of the parking garage.

"We expect the results of the test to confirm a stronger yielded strength and allow us to place less piles in number which will constitute a savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction costs," See said. "We need to know up to what load it's going to fail. Without a baseline load number, a potential bidder would build it to (the highest potential need) which will result in a greater cost."

See said next week's test is costing $35,000, but should be well worth it.

Gov. Ed Rendell committed $8.2 million in state funds to be used for the parking garage in the Impact Warren city development project.

"This (test) will help us come under our budgeted amount," Phillips said.

"We're still in the design phase," See said, which will culminate with next week's testing. Murray Associates, a southwestern Pennsylvania consulting engineering firm, is working with Grout Systems on this week's drilling. After the concrete cylinder is placed, it needs a week before testing can begin.

Phillips and See released an architectural drawing of the parking garage done by Thomas R. Harley Architects.

See mentioned the 120-by-415-foot garage is designed to have five fully-lit levels.

"This building will not displace any ongoing business," he said.

Officials and developers maintain that the 600-plus space parking garage is an integral part of the Impact Warren project. The more than $40 million project will include a new Northwest Savings Bank office building, riverfront townhouses, an amphitheater, housing for senior citizens, a riverfront motel, small convention center and a transit center headquarters, as well as possible commercial space. This development requires replacement of the parking spaces now available in the "Island" parking lot.

Groundbreaking for Allegheny Point, the first construction phase in Impact Warren, took place Tuesday. Allegheny Point will provide senior housing facing Breeze Point Landing.

"Now, another facet of the whole project (the parking garage) is coming along in a parallel path," Phillips said.