State Street garage opening pushed back

The city has once again pushed back the planned opening of the State Street parking garage, moving the targeted opening from mid-May to late May after a meeting with contractors today.

The delay is attributed to issues related to utilities in the area of the garage, according to city spokeswoman Jan Thornburg. Chief Planner Steve Stancel said it’s still unclear exactly when the opening will occur or what portion of the structure will be accessible to the public initially.

Because the last elements of the garage that will be installed are the elevators, Stancel said the city was considering opening just the first floor of the garage to serve as a soft opening.

“It works out well,” Stancel said. “There’s still a lot of work going on on State Street itself, so a soft opening is kind of conducive to the project at this point.”

Stancel said the targeted completion date for all construction on the garage is June 12.

On Wednesday, Parking Manager Mark Lyons is going before the city’s Public Art Committee to discuss a potential project to design the interior of the garage. The city interested in teaming with local artists to create murals specific to each floor of the garage, similar to the artwork at the Palm Avenue parking garage.

“I want to see if the committee is interested in helping fund a call to artists that would create distinctive artwork designs for each level to use as a wayfinding system,” Lyons said. 

For more information on the State Street garage, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Sarasota Observer.

This article has been updated to reflect the delayed opening date of the garage.