LEWISTON – Plans for a new Bates Mill parking deck are expected to go out to bid next week, according to developers.

The 81-space deck over an existing lot in front of Storehouse No. 7 off Chestnut Street is set to be finished sometime this summer, said project manager Bruce Allen.

The ground-floor spaces will be reserved for workers at the Peoples Bank operations center at Bates Mill. The top-floor spaces will provide short-term parking for mill visitors.

The deck is expected to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million, Allen said.

Work continues on other Bates Mill projects, as well. According to Allan Turgeon, manager of the property, a demolition project is under way in the interior of Mill No. 5. Crews are removing extraneous steel structures that held looms when the building was a weave shed used to make textiles. Work has also been done on the sprinkler and electrical systems.

“We’re trying to get the building in a position to be ready for bank financing and a substantial developer,” said Turgeon.

Work also continues on environmental remediation at the site, and workers should begin soon to add more green space on Lincoln Street at the entrance to the complex.

Economic developers have estimated it will take $40 million to convert the 85-year-old Mill No. 5 into a convention center. Last month, officials announced a plan for the Libbey Mill complex that included plans for a new hotel that would be built on that site if the convention center gets backing.

Staff Writers Scott Taylor and Carol Coultas contributed to this report.