SALISBURY — The city is moving forward with plans to build a parking lot in the 300 block of South Main Street, but how much the project could cost is not clear.
“We can provide you a cost once the design is final and it is bid out,” city spokeswoman Elaney Hasselmann said in response to inquiries from the Post.
The city provided a drawing of a 58-space parking lot for Integro Technologies. The city is scheduled to present the proposal at 4 p.m. today before the Historic Preservation Commission, which will meet in City Hall at 217 S. Main St.
The lot would be open for public use after business hours and on weekends.
The Post requested any public records regarding the parking lot, including a budget and proposals for future phases.
“A budget for the lot will exist once the design is finalized and bid out,” Hasselmann said. “The city is not building a parking deck on the site, so there are no proposals for such. All proposals on this parcel must go through the (Historic Preservation Commission).”
Mayor Paul Woodson said future phases could include a one-story parking deck and possible condominiums behind Integro’s new headquarters at 301 S. Main St.
City Manager Doug Paris disagreed.
“That’s not correct. There are no proposals for a deck,” Paris said.
Any future parking phase would mirror how the remainder of the block would be developed and would be designed based on that development, Paris said.
“No deck,” he said in an email. “Put that in your story.”
Hasselmann said the draft drawing of the parking lot, which includes 22 spaces behind Integro and 36 spaces on the south side of the building, could change during the development review process and as various boards and City Council review the site plan, which is titled “phase one.”
The city last year agreed to build parking for Integro, which bought land from the city for $250,000 and moved its headquarters from North Lee Street to a new $3.2 million, 41,800-square-foot building on South Main.
The city still owns land behind the new building, which is called the Salisbury Business Center.
Woodson has put the ballpark figure of parking lot construction at $1,000 per space. John Sofley, assistant city manager for finance, was out of the office Monday.
The city had planned to provide 160 additional parking spaces for the school central office, which the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education and City Council wanted to build next to Integro.
Some city officials say they still hope the central office will go at 329 S. Main St., although the school board and Rowan County commissioners are discussing building the facility in the 500 block of North Main Street on private property.
Contact Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.