Downtown Warren's new parking garage should be open to the public by the end of October.

"They're scheduled to wind things up the third week of October," Warren Mayor Mark Phillips said Wednesday. "All expectations are it should be operational by the end of the month."
Phillips said Perry Construction and city representatives have been going over a final punchlist of items to be completed or adjusted in the garage. Perry began construction of the garage last October and had 365 days to complete the project.

"There's nothing major I've been made aware of," said Phillips. "There are some small things here and there."

Meanwhile, work to realign and then pave Clark St. is continuing and should be completed within two weeks, Phillips said.

City personnel are also going through the garage and assigning numbered spaces to those who have reserved them at a rate of $35 per month.

Although Phillips expects that eventually up to 80 or 90 percent of the spaces will be reserved by all-day parkers, that rate of occupancy will not be reached until a nearby motel and conference center and riverfront townhouses are completed.

"It's not going to be a surprise" if there are a substantial number of empty spaces in the garage when it initially opens, said Phillips. "It would be an error to say it's going to be eighty to ninety percent full when it opens."

Once the garage opens, said Phillips, more than 100 temporary spaces the city has created in the vicinity of the former Loranger building and on the east end of Clark St. will be eliminated. Many of the motorists who have been using those temporary spots already have assigned spaces in the new garage.

And with the opening of the Clark St. facility, Phillips said the use of free downtown parking spaces designed for short-term use "will come under greater scrutiny."

Phillips said the free business district spaces are designed "for people who come downtown to get their hair done or have lunch," not for all-day parking.

"Police will be making sure they are reserved for the short-term," said Phillips.

There are still 400 free parking spaces which can be used all day located within five blocks of the intersection of Hickory St. and Third Ave., said Phillips.

Anyone interested in renting a space in the new garage should contact the Warren Police Department for more information.