By Elizabeth Coss
The corner of Lincoln and Fifth Avenue will look different by fall semester with the demolition announcement of the M60 parking deck.
Youngstown State University released an email to faculty, staff and students stating the parking deck will be replaced by a lot, citing portions of the deck have become unusable over a two-year period.
In 2021, levels three and four of the deck were closed. Earlier this year, level two was closed.
The parking deck will be permanently closed starting June 20 and maintenance will begin by removing light fixtures.
According to John Hyden, associate vice president of Facilities and Support Services, demolition is expected to begin by the end of July and take about a month to finish.
Built in the 1970s, the M60 parking deck originally had 1,278 spaces and the new lot will have 163 spaces.
The university listed alternative parking locations as the M70 lot located between Arlington Avenue and Grant Street or the M30 parking deck on Wick Avenue.
To ease the loss of the parking deck, YSU has improved the conditions of the M72 lot on Ford Avenue, added a newly constructed M81 lot along the Madison Avenue Expressway Eastbound Service Road and Elm Street, and is expected to finish R67, a new overnight lot located on Fifth Avenue, this summer.
The new M60 parking lot is expected to be finished by late October.
