Construction of Downtown St. Cloud Parking Ramp Delayed, Cost Cuts Needed

ST. CLOUD - It's back to the drawing board as St. Cloud city staff tries to find a way to shave several million dollars from the planned downtown St. Cloud parking ramp. The City Council rejected all the bids this (Monday) evening after all four came in well over budget.

Councilwoman Carol Lewis has an office downtown and says the delay on the project is frustrating.

It's extremely frustrating because the cars have moved west from the closed parking lot on 5th. What we used to have as available parking is eaten up quite easily every morning. The frustration level amongst merchants and people who have their offices downtown is getting high.

While the staff work on cutting costs, the one block section of 5th Avenue and the adjacent parking lot, are going to reopen to traffic and parking by later this week.

City Administrator Mike Williams says they're hoping to bring a reworked plan back to the city council by the end of this month, which includes the possibility of having to rebid the project.

The city has $11.56 million in state bonding money to spend, but the lowest bid was nearly $17.4 million.