Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the Town of Bristol opened a new public parking lot at the corner of Church and Thames streets. The lot, which was given to the town as part of the deal for the acquisition of the old Yarn Mill at the southern end of Thames Street, holds 20 cars.

Town Administrator Steven Contente said the town officially acquired the parking lot about a week ago from Brady Sullivan properties, the new owners of the Yarn Mill, who are planning on turning the mill into an apartment complex.

“The town negotiated with the developer for the lot,” Contente said. “The town would retain the lot. It was a condition of the Town of Bristol Planning Board.

When the company Robin Rug owned the lot, it would often be leased to the town for six months of the year. The lot, located directly across the street from the Prudence Island ferry dock, was originally used for mill employees, but utilization declined as the company reduced its workforce over the years. When ownership changed hands, however, the town no longer had that arrangement in place.

The “new” lot did not need much work, according to Contente, other than fixing some potholes and sealing some cracks in the asphalt. It holds 19 regular parking spaces, with one van-accessible handicap space.

The lot is open to the public during the day, with no overnight parking allowed. The police will come and check to see which cars are parked there at midnight, when the overnight ordinance begins, before seeing if they are still there at 5 a.m, when the overnight ordinance ends.

This is the first area of public parking acquired by the town since it acquired a small lot on State Street, which has 23 spaces for parking.
“We’re always looking for parking lots to help the downtown areas,” Contente said.