By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — The price tag for the proposed city-county parking garage in Warsaw is now expected to be about $15 million, and a key vote by the Kosciusko County Commissioners could happen as soon as next week.
The $15 million figure was included in a postcard-sized promotion distributed to downtown businesses, which included a conceptual rendering of a two-story structure at the corner of Lake and Fort Wayne streets.
This week’s promotional effort represents the first concrete figure offered for the cost of the project.
The parking garage would hold more than 300 parking spaces. County officials have said it needs more parking for its employees, and city officials believe it would free up more existing parking and benefit downtown visitors.
It touts the plan as a long-term solution “for Kosciusko’s parking shortage.”
A summary of the plan is posted on All In Kosciuko.
The promotion says the project can move forward without raising taxes. Money would come from the city, the county, and the Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative, with money from existing reserves, tax increment financing revenues, and grant money.
Supporters also underscore an urgency to approve the plan because access to the $5 million in OIRI money from the state legislature is set to expire in 2027.
Anyone with questions or comments is asked to contact the three county commissioners and the promotion included their email addresses.
Warsaw would contribute $2 million to $3 million and the county would use existing EDIT revenues to cover the remaining seven to eight million.
The vision statement touts it as a “state-of-the-art parking structure” that could fuel the growth of new restaurants, office space, housing, and entertainment venues.
Main Street Warsaw’s Terry Sweeney, the Director of Downtown Development, distributed the promotion by hand and by email and said it was prepared by the visioning team with OIRI.
Sweeney, in the email to downtown stakeholders, said he expects a vote in the next seven to ten days, but directed questions about that to county officials.
The county commissioners have a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, June 16.
News Now Warsaw reached out to Commissioner Cary Groninger on Tuesday afternoon, but did not hear back.
The proposal could face some hurdles if it reaches a vote.
Groninger is the only commissioner (of the three) to voice strong support for it. At least two county council members and two city council members have expressed doubts about its passage.
