Free Parking Continues In Mystic But With Changes

Shoppers taking advantage of free parking at the can continue to park for free until August 5, just for not as long.

Beginning this past Sunday, July 15 through Saturday, July 28 visitors to downtown Mystic will have two hours of free parking at the Mystic Arts Center Parking Lot. Beginning Sunday, July 29 through Sunday, August 5, one hour of free parking will be available.

In June, the in encumbered funds to pay for five hours of free parking at the Mystic Arts Center Parking Lot during the streetscape project.

The streetscape project, . From the beginning the project which was supposed to be done on June 30 of this year encountered delays, tied up traffic, and threatened .

By providing free parking the Groton Town Council and the hoped to get people to come back to downtown Mystic and shop. The Groton Town Council worked out a deal with the Mystic Arts Center where the Mystic Art Center paid for the first half hour and the town paid $3 per hour for the next four and half hours. The town expected that the $50,000 would provide six weeks of free parking until August 5.

“Knowing that parking will be more easily available (and not require a credit card) is definitely more of an incentive for me, personally, to go to Mystic more often,” said on Stonington-Mystic Patch.

The free parking was an incentive for a lot of people. By Tuesday, July 10, the town had already paid . If current usage with five hours of free parking continued the money for free parking would only last until Wednesday, July 18.

The Groton Town Council and representatives from the Mystic Arts Center and Steamboat Wharf Company met last week to work out the new deal, which should keep free parking going until August 5.