By Jorge Casuso

February 8, 2012 -- Parking Structure 6 on 2nd Street in Downtown Santa Monica will be shut down Monday, three days ahead of schedule, to prepare for its demolition.

The 350-car parking facility on 2nd Street between Broadway and Santa Monica Boulevard will be "dismantled" rather than demolished beginning next month and will be replaced with a new building that will accommodate twice as many cars.

Taking down the structure, which City officials said will be a "piece by piece demolition to minimize impacts," will take one to two months and will not require street closures. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2013.

City officials had scheduled the structure to close on February 16, but were informed by Commonwealth Edison that if the power were not cut off February 13 the City would have to delay the demolition.

"If we hadn't taken that date, it would have delayed us," said Miriam Mulder, the City's architect.

When asked by The Lookout, City officials said the delay had nothing to do with the dissolution of Santa Monica's Redevelopment Agency, which is bankrolling the project.

"We want them (Com ED) to do it at the earliest," sad Kate Vernez, Deputy City Manager for special projects. "This has nothing to do with the Development Agency.

The City stands to lose as much as $300 million after the State Supreme Court on December 30 upheld Governor Jerry Brown's move to dissolve the local agencies to bridge California's budget deficit.

All cars must exit the structure by 11:59 p.m. on February 12, City officials said.

"The City, Downtown Santa Monica Inc. and the design/builders Morley Construction are making an extra effort to ensure that all disruptions caused by the rebuild are kept to a minimum," City officials said in a statement.

"Traffic and pedestrian impacts are expected to be minimal and alley access will be maintained," officials said. "Mitigation measures to control noise and dust are planned beyond the normal requirements.

All other Downtown Structures will continue operating as usual, City officials said. They are encouraging all-day parkers to use the Civic Lot and the Structure at Olympic and 4th Street.

The Big Blue Bus is operating a shuttle between Downtown Santa Monica and the Civic Center in a continuous loop every ten minutes, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7:40 p.m.

In addition, Big Blue Bus lines 2 and 3 pick up on 4th Street just east of the Civic Center parking facilities every eight minutes during operating hours.

When completed, the new structure will have more than twice as much parking — enough for 748 cars, 90 bikes and 19 motorcycles on eight parking levels above ground and another three levels underneath.

The new structure will have approximately 7,000 square feet of retail space fronting on 2nd Street and features a west-facing staircase that offers users ocean views as they enter and exit the structure, increasing safety with its high visibility, officials said.

Innovative amenities planned for the new structure include a façade of aluminum fins to reflect diffused sunlight into the facility, solar panels expected to generate 80 kilowatts and charging stations for 30 electric vehicles.

For more information on downtown parking, visit www.smgov.net/parking or call 310.458.8295.