City officials said they plan to offer a parking lot on King Street used by city employees to the public for parking on nights and weekends.
Cherita Allen, deputy economic development director, said it will be managed by Republic Parking.
The city is having to spend money on the lot because water runs off it to an adjacent building being developed by Hiren Desai. Ms. Allen said work will be done for a temporary fix for that issue that will take about two weeks.
She said Thomas Construction, which got a $440,000 contract, will then work until about early December on a complete rebuild of the lot, including paving, striping and landscaping. Lights will be added because of the new public night use.
It was also announced that there will be a special $2 rate for parking downtown at the River Pier parking garage near the Aquarium. That will cover the lunch period from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Daisy Madison, who heads the CDRC, said, "That is a normal practice at a lot of other places."