UPDATE: Following delays, State Street garage completion scheduled for July

More than four months have elapsed since the original targeted completion date for a portion of the State Street parking garage, but city staff believes the end is finally in sight.

City staff first believed a substantial segment of the garage would be completed in February. By January, that date was pushed to late March.  It then moved to mid-May, then late-May, and most recently, mid-June following a variety of delays. Now — after encountering problems with utilities during construction this month — the partial completion of the garage has been pushed back yet again.

Still, the city believes the project should be wrapped up in just a few weeks. According to city Chief Planner Steve Stancel, those utilities issues are resolved now, and he expects the entire garage to be open by July 3.

"There will still be some things ongoing — landscaping, painting, trim — but those are minor things," Stancel said. "The garage itself should be complete."

Stancel said the contract for the totality of work on the garage runs through July 12. Once completed, the garage will provide 395 parking spaces for downtown Sarasota.

Update: This story has been modified to reflect the city's decision to forgo a partial opening of the garage, originally scheduled for June 29. That decision was made in a meeting this afternoon.