Additional parking spaces may be available on Sowers Street if a plan to build a 92-space garage is approved.

The State College Borough Design Review Board reviewed the plans this week at its worksession and will continue discussions at its next meeting on Tuesday.

The proposed site, 131 S. Sowers St., is owned by HFL Corp. and includes Electronics Unlimited and the former Armenara Lanes. The current surface lot holds 40 spaces.

HFL Corp. is a holding company of Unico Corp., 477 E. Beaver Ave., which is the contractor for the proposed project.

The planned structure would be a three-level garage -- two levels underground and one level above ground, borough zoning officer Herman Slaybaugh said.

"From Calder Alley, one level will be sticking above ground," Slaybaugh added.

Henry Sahakian, chairman of the Unico board, said ground breaking will take place as soon as the company obtains the proper permits, which could take a few months.

Sahakian said that since the project should be straightfoward and he does not anticipate any problems, construction should not take very long.

Sahakian expects construction to take a "maximum of two months."

Since the plan must go through a series of comments and suggestions between the borough's Design Review Board and Unico Corp. and then the borough's Planning Commission and Unico, final approval of the plan may not occur until mid-summer, Slaybaugh said.

The borough's planning department will have final approval on the plan, Slaybaugh added.

Miriam Pierce, a member of the Design Review Board, said she thinks the proposed garage would help solve some of the borough's parking problems.

"I hope it will alleviate some of the parking crunch," Pierce said.

She added that a garage would also be a visual improvement over the surface lot that occupies the site.

"If it improves the looks of the area, I think it is terrific," she said.