Downtown Valparaiso's parking projects continue to move forward.
The city council passed an ordinance Monday, appropriating bond proceeds as part of the financing process for the new parking garage at Lincolnway and Morgan. Now, City Attorney Patrick Lyp says the city's redevelopment commission will finalize the creation of the Linc TIF district later this week.
"That'll finalize all of the official approvals necessary. Then it will go into more of the technical process, where the bonds will be rated and ultimately sold sometime in the middle part or latter part of September," he told council members Monday.
To make way for the garage, Lyp says the former tattoo parlor and Valparaiso International Center at 307 and 309 Lincolnway will be torn down in the next couple weeks.
Meanwhile, other downtown buildings are set to be replaced with temporary parking. Across the street, 302 and 304 Lincolnway will be demolished after Popcorn Fest, while 306 Lincolnway will come down once a structural engineer evaluates its shared wall with another structure.
"Once those three properties are demolished, the intent is to have a short-term, temporary surface parking lot placed there, while the parking structure across the street is built. Once that is done, then that property will be available for future development there," Lyp explained.
Lyp says the building at 58 Jefferson will also be replaced with a parking lot, at least temporarily, while the garage is under construction.
