The Ottawa Street parking deck will get its first new coat of paint since the 1990s as the city of Joliet embarks on another downtown improvement project.

Joliet will spend $190,625 to paint the deck, which rises above the new City Square.

“It sits adjacent to the City Square and will be used as the main parking destination for all downtown events held at the City Square,” noted a staff memo to the City Council, which approved the paint job at its June 2 meeting.

The paint job, scheduled to start this week, weather permitting, will include exterior walls and stairwells at the deck.

The project is expected to take six weeks with the parking deck remaining open, city spokeswoman Sydney Thompson said.

Alleys will be closed when painting is done on those walls, and the sidewalk on Ottawa Street will be closed at times when that area is painted, Thompson said.

Both the staff memo and Councilman Joe Clement noted that the deck has not been painted since the 1990s as the council unanimously approved the contract with Cosgrove Construction Inc., the lowest of three bidders on the job.

The staff memo noted the paint job “is needed as part of overall maintenance.”

“The color would be the same but will appear a bit darker than it is now because of fading,” the staff memo noted

The deck will be painted in Mexican sand, the same color used when City Hall got a fresh coat of paint last year.

“It’s a very neutral color that matches City Hall and other buildings,” City Manager Beth Beatty told the council before it voted for the contract.

While the paint job for the deck may be a needed maintenance project, it is also one more example of the city’s increased spending and attention downtown that has come with the opening of the City Square at the end or April.

Other actions taken by the city since then have included:

• A $555,000 contract with Forte, which the council approved in May, to provide an audio-visual music system for the Square

• The expansion of a police Special Services Unit, which was announced last week, with six officers devoted to downtown policing

• The establishment of a new “social district” that will allow outdoor alcohol consumption in and around the Square on a daily basis.