Finding a parking spot in downtown St. Cloud is sometimes a challenge, but with the completion of the parking ramp over 5th Ave., it’s a little easier.

Assistant Public Works Director Steven Lawrence says the City of St. Cloud received a grant of $11.56 million from the State of Minnesota to build the new parking ramp. After a year of construction, the project is finally complete.

The new ramp features more than 400 parking stalls, environmentally friendly LED lighting, fully automatic gates, a built-in security camera system, a snow dump on the top level, and the addition of Lincoln plaza on the north entrance of the ramp.

A 98-year-old statue of Abraham Lincoln is the center piece of the plaza with three, four-story waves of aluminum to represent the Mississippi River as Lincoln’s backdrop.