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The Altoona Parking Authority is leasing the former Kaufman's Wedding World site downtown as a temporary parking lot.

The authority is renting the site from First National Bank of Pennsylvania, which took the property as collateral in the Wedding World bankruptcy.

The authority needs the lot to help handle additional demand for up to 90 parking spaces created by the start of classes this week at Penn State Altoona's recently expanded Devorris Downtown Center, said authority Executive Director Patrick Miller and Sherri McGregor, a continuing education and training specialist with the college.

The influx will bring the Devorris Center parking demand to 130 spaces, Center City Coordinator Bob Scholl said.

Currently, the college leases staff parking spaces on authority lots along 12th Avenue, across from the Devorris Center, Miller said.

Blair Senior Services leases 60 spaces, and TLC Childcare, Verizon and LeBistro Cafe also use the lots.

To prevent an onslaught on 12th Avenue, the authority and college will direct new students to park in the "Blue" lot behind the former Meyer Jonasson's building, with overflow parking on the newly available Wedding World property and the Transportation Center parking garage, according to Miller and McGregor.

Not all of the parking garage's 204 spaces are currently available, as ongoing repairs prevent parking in about one-fourth of them. More and more spaces are becoming available as work progresses, Scholl said.

Miller said he's negotiating with Penn State on a price for the additional lot spaces.

Monthly prices for downtown employees vary between $31 and $41, depending on the lot, but the authority doesn't expect the school to pay as much because students occupy parking spaces sporadically, Miller said.

Penn State students will need a parking pass to use the lots, said Andy Vavreck, the college's director of business operations. Passes cost $25 to $80 per semester and cover parking at both the Ivyside and downtown campuses.

The authority will pass on 20 percent of the money the Wedding World lot generates to the bank, with a minimum payment of $500 a month.

The bank can end the lease with the authority on 30 days' notice, should a development opportunity arise, Miller said. He added that he knows of no deal in the offing.

The lot will hold about 35 vehicles, Miller said.

Workers will remove curbing so motorists can enter the lot from the alley between 10th and 11th avenues, and they will paint stripes on the gravel to give motorists an idea of where to park, Miller said.

Penn State students can avoid the need for parking downtown by using any of three Amtran bus routes - the Downtown Loop, Fairview and Juniata - to travel between the Ivyside and downtown campuses.

Many of the new campus spaces will go for nursing students, who begin classes at 7 a.m. and stay about five hours, Miller said.

The proposed solutions should benefit all parties, said Blair Senior Services President Steve Williamson, who has worked with the authority to solve the occasional congestion in the 12th Avenue lots.