State Street parking lot to close May 19

Construction on the State Street parking garage will commence later this month — and, as a result, the State Street parking lot will be closed to cars beginning May 19.

The lot, located at the corner of State Street and Lemon Avenue, contains 139 parking spaces. As the city works toward building a garage on the lot, it’s also attempting to provide alternate options to offset the loss of the parking spaces, according to a press release.

“We contacted everyone who holds a parking permit in the State Street Lot to inform them about the pending closure and reallocate their parking to other parking facilities,” city Parking Manager Mark Lyons said in the release. “We also have been assessing how the closure will impact our parking needs and making arrangements to add parking spaces in the area near State Street.”

The city will soon add 35 on-street parking spaces along Ringling Boulevard, Pineapple Boulevard, Morrill Street, Rawls Avenue and Adelia Avenue as part of its efforts. The city is also leasing 12 parking spaces for public use in the BMO Harris Bank parking garage, located at Pineapple Avenue and McAnsh Square, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

In addition to the new spaces, the city is encouraging the use of other nearby public parking facilities, including:

+ The Burns Square lot, located at Orange Avenue and Laurel Street
+ The First Street lot, located between Lemon Avenue and Orange Avenue
+ The Whole Foods Second Street garage, located between Lemon Avenue and Central Avenue

Construction on the State Street garage is expected to last until March 2015. After completion, a total of 399 spaces will be available inside the garage.

Contact David Conway at [email protected].