Roy Anderson Corp. has placed a bid for the Florence parking deck, under-bidding the only other bidder, Fite Construction Co. Their bids were $12.65 million and $13.17 million respectively. 

The project was originally estimated by Mayor Andy Betterton to cost roughly $10.8 million to $11.5 million. Florence is utilizing a low-bid system. Rather than going strictly by qualifications, the lowest bidder earns a contract. 

Roy Anderson Corp. is the lower bidder, however they are yet to be approved by the city council. Bids were originally planned to open in late May. They opened Aug. 23. 

Architect Calvin Durham says the new parking deck is planned to house 296 vehicles and will stand six stories tall at the corner of Pine Street and Tombigbee Street. Out of the 296 spots, 23 will be reserved for bicycles and motorcycles. The current parking deck sits at the intersection of Tennessee Street and Pine Street. It has 150 spots and consists of four floors. Cars have not been allowed on the top floor since at least 2017 when an engineering study found several structural issues. The current parking deck is also roughly 40 years old.

Construction plans also include a new city hall and additional municipal parking deck. 

Florence mayor Andy Betterton told The TimesDaily the project is expected to complete in a year and a half. Construction itself is slated to begin this month. The current deck will be demolished once construction finalizes. 

As of Sept. 1, no approval has been granted on the Roy Anderson Corp. bid for parking deck construction. 

The City of Florence also reports separate construction projects, including the West College Street bridge. The bridge will connect west Florence to Alabama Highway 20. It is expected to cost approximately $17 million. Bridge construction would also take roughly 18 months. Other bridge options include Coffee Road to West College Street or Coffee Road to West Irvine Avenue. The project is still in the early stages of development, however, as no concrete decisions have been made.