Though it looks nearly complete from the outside, a completion date for Gainesville’s downtown parking deck is still at least a month away, according to project manager Jarrett Nash.

City officials originally planned to have the deck completed by July, but a problem with concrete and the summer’s above-average rainfall totals pushed the project’s completion date to September, Nash said.

Now, Nash says the deck may not be completed until mid-October, at the earliest. He said the contractor building the deck, Optum Construction, will update the City Council on the parking deck’s progress at a meeting Thursday.

"They’re pursuing it hard to get it finished," Nash said.

Nash says city officials spent last week meeting with contractors and architects to nail down a completion date in the hopes of having the deck ready for downtown fall events.

Designed by architect Steve Hill of Gainesville, the new $6.85 million parking deck will extend over the entrance to the mountains center and will include brick accents fashioned in a pattern similar to that on the downtown square sidewalks.

The four-level deck will accommodate 419 vehicles when complete and is designed to allow growth to a six-level deck.

Until the work is complete, only one lane of traffic will be open on Main Street from Spring Street to Broad Street. Main Street is open to one-way traffic leaving the square from Spring Street to Broad Street.

For drivers going to the downtown square, city officials recommend using Spring Street via West Academy Street.