Dec. 21. By Dave Vieser. The Town of Cornelius has awarded a $712,957 contract to Sloan Construction for the construction of two new parking lots in downtown Cornelius as well as 25 new parking spaces behind Town Hall.

Cornelius-based Sloan was the lowest of three construction firms which bid on the project which will comprise a total of 121 new spaces.

Town Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the contract at last night’s meeting.

Events coming

Assistant Town Manager Tyler Beardsley told the commissioners that the town will be hosting many more events and activities in the Town Center, especially once the Cain Center for the Arts is open.

“We really want to get ahead of the parking need now so that our downtown area will be able to handle the expected number of people who will be attending these events in the future,” he said.

The parking improvement plan has three elements:

—25 new spaces will be added to the town owned lot behind Town Hall. This will be accomplished by relining the existing spaces while also adding some new ones.

—69 spaces will be added to the parking lot in front of Food Lion and adjoining North Main Street. This lot is owned by the town.

—27 spaces will be added to a new lot in a town-owned parcel on the north side of Catawba Avenue, west of Church Street.

When?

Barring any unforeseen delays in procuring materials, it is anticipated that the parking lots will be completed by the end of August 2022.