Despite all the rain and utility problems that have delayed work on the parking garage that will accompany the new justice center in downtown Carrollton, construction officials say the project is still several days ahead of schedule.

The completion date for the garage, which is being built by MWC Construction in Carrollton, isn’t until the first of February. But Bill Wilson, general superintendent with MWC, said the company is hopeful it can finish it before then.

The city announced several months ago after the demolition of the Courtyard Square building that a number of underground phone lines would need to be moved, as would water lines, sewer lines and power lines, halting work on the garage until the utilities could be moved.

Even then, Wilson said, as of two weeks ago, work on the garage was more than a week ahead of schedule, and even with the rainy weather of recent days, the project is still moving along ahead of schedule for the Feb. 1 deadline.

“I know before we ever got started there was problems with the utilities and the rain, but we started July 6, and we’re still running a couple of days ahead even with the weather,” he said. “So we’re shooting right now to finish by the beginning of the year.”

As of now, MWC is finishing up with grading and slab work, establishing the foundation for the parking deck. Around the middle of October, the company anticipates receiving the precast structures themselves, at that point allowing construction crews to begin assembling the pieces of the structure like a jigsaw puzzle.

Once the pieces start arriving, said City Manager Casey Coleman, the structure itself will begin a rapid upward ascent, with visual progress being made nearly every single day from Halloween on.

“Now, they’re pouring the footings for all the columns that will hold them up, and this is always the slow part. It seemed like it took them forever to complete this stage on the deck [by the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center],” Coleman said. “Once they get everything in place, though, it goes up real quick.”

Because the new justice center will be erected where the existing courthouse parking lot is located, the new garage must be finished before work can begin on the center, if only to provide daily parking for the number of employees who work at the courthouse.

At 319 spaces and five levels, the parking deck will be significantly larger than the deck near the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center on Alabama Street. Though both were designed by local architect Alan Bell, the new parking garage will feature an assortment of materials not seen in the previous park, most notably cast stone. The parapets will also differ from one to the other, as the new garage was designed to resemble the justice center.