YSU Announces June 20 Closure of M60 Deck

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Youngstown State University’s M60 parking deck at the corner of Lincoln and Fifth avenues will close permanently June 20, with demolition of the structure taking place over the summer.

The parking deck, which was built in the 1970s, is “approaching the end of its useful life and will be replaced by a 163-space surface lot to be completed by the end of October, YSU’s parking services office said in an email to the campus community Monday morning.

According to the email, portions of the deck have become unusable over the last two years, with levels 3 and 4 closing in 2021 and Level 2 closing earlier this year.

The parking services, in anticipation of the “inevitability” of closing the deck for years, “has built up plant reserves sufficient to cover the demolition of the deck and completion of the new surface lot,” the email continued. The 285-space M81 lot was created along the Madison Avenue Expressway Eastbound Service Road and Elm Street, and the Deibel Park walkway opened 100 spaces on the Eastbound Service Road to the campus core.

Improvements also have been made to the M72 lot on Ford Avenue with 131 spaces. To address overnight parking needs from the M60 deck, a new overnight lot, R67 on Fifth Avenue behind Enterprise Rent-A-Car, will be completed this summer with 36 new spaces.

Individuals now parking in the M60 deck can find alternative parking in the M70 lot just west of Fifth Avenue between Arlington and Grant streets or the M30 parking deck on Wick Avenue. More parking is also available west of the M70 lot in the M71, M72 and M66 parking lots.

The M60 site also was proposed as a potential location for a new student center by WTW Architects, Pittsburgh, to replace Kilcawley Center during a forum in January. WTW was to present a final report to YSU trustees in the spring.

Anyone wanting additional information can email the parking services office at [email protected] or call 330-941-3546.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.