ST. CLOUD - St. Cloud is looking into a different plan for a new downtown parking ramp.

St. Cloud has $11.56 million in state bonding money for the project. However, recent bids for the project came in too high, with the lowest being $17.4 million. The bids were rejected by the city council earlier this month.

The council discussed a plan where they will look for a construction manager, at risk, for the project. They are hoping to work with of one of the low-bid contractors on a redesign. The project will need to be rebid.

To reduce the costs, the city is looking to simplify the design of the project.

City administrator Mike Williams says the bids came in so high because of the complexity of the project.

"We're learning that the design of this parking ramp was rather complex-spanning the street and it's not a simple stack of layers and ramps."

Williams says the city is still hoping to start construction in the fall and finish the project next year. For the next few weeks the city will work with one of the lower bidders to come up with project recommendations to present to the city council.

The city is continuing to take into account future options for parking expansion and convention center expansion in the process.

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