Downtown Bloomington offers over 500 free on-street parking spaces!
On-street parking spaces are available for up to 2 hours, Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM (unless otherwise posted). Refer to on-street signage for parking restrictions after 6:00 PM.
Vehicles are only allowed to park in the same block once per day on weekdays.
Street Parking Permit Application for Residents -Downtown residents are eligible to obtain parking permits for on-street parking. Verification of residency is required when the permits are obtained.
Downtown parking Permit Application for Commercial Vehicles - Contractors and other companies may obtain a permit to park a commercial vehicle in the downtown area if the vehicle has commercial plats or bears the company or organization's name.
Public Parking Decks:
Lincoln Deck (southwest corner of Front Street & East Street): 800 parking spaces are available by the hour between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday ($1.00 per hour / $10.00 per day max). All 800 spaces are available for free unlimited parking after 6:00 PM on weekday evenings and all day on Saturday and Sunday!
Arena Deck (northeast corner of Olive Street & Lee Street): 250 parking spaces are available for free for up to 4 hours, Monday through Friday. All 250 spaces are available for free unlimited parking evenings and weekends. Special rates may apply for Arena events.
Note: Market Street Deck (southeast corner of Market Street & Madison Street) is closed as of August 22, 2025
As a result of the reduced parking downtown during the Downtown for Everyone streetscape project, the City of Bloomington has explored additional leased parking in privately-owned lots. To lease a space or explore other parking options, contact the Facilities Management Office at (309) 434-2207 or parking@cityblm.org or visit 301 E. Jackson St. (Mon-Fri, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.).
Monthly parking customers will use their pass to both enter and exit the garages. The pass is a proximity card which must be held within a few inches of the sensors on the entry or exit stations adjacent to the driver’s side of the vehicle. If the “LOT FULL” sign is illuminated, monthly parking customers still have access to the garage and should have available parking spaces.
OPERATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS – DAILY PARKING
Daily parking customers will pull a ticket to enter a garage. This ticket must be retained in order to exit the garage. To exit the garage, customers have the following two options to pay for parking. (1) Take their ticket to the pay station. Insert the ticket into the pay station and pay the parking fee. Payment can be made by cash, credit or debit. The ticket will be returned to the customer and must be used at an exit station within 20 minutes. (2) Exit the garage though one of the exit lanes by inserting their ticket into an exit station and pay the parking fee. Payment can only be made by credit or debit. If the “LOT FULL” sign is illuminated, no ticket will be issued to allow daily parking customers into the garage.
OPERATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS – LOST TICKET OR PASS
Customers who have lost their ticket or pass must push the lost ticket button on the pay station or exit station in the exit lane. A $10 fee is charged.
OPERATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS – VALIDATIONS
Validations will be provided to parking customers through external entities such as the Mclean County Jury Commission, Mclean County Museum, City and County Departments and some downtown businesses. Parking customers will pull a ticket to enter the garage. This ticket must be retained in order to exit the garage. Customers will use the entry ticket and validation at a pay station or exit lane by inserting the ticket then scanning the validation. The entity which provided the validation to the parking customer will be billed for this parking on a monthly basis.
OPERATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS – HELP BUTTON
Assistance is available 24 -7 by pushing the help button on an entry, exit or pay stations.
Surface Parking Lots:
Douglas Lots A, B, C (directly south of the Bloomington Center for Performing Arts at the southeast corner of Douglas Street and East Street): 130 parking spaces are available for free, all day parking.
Major Butler Parking Lot (directly north of the Arena at the northwest corner of Front Street and Madison Street): 71 parking spaces are available for free, once per day, for up to 4 hours, Monday through Friday. Free unlimited parking is available evenings and weekends starting at 6:00 PM. Special rates may apply for Arena events.
Government Center Parking Lot (northeast corner of Front Street and East Street): 87 parking spaces are available for free, once per day, for up to 2 hours, Monday through Friday. Free unlimited parking is available evenings and weekends starting at 6:00 PM.
The Old Grand Cafe Parking lot (adjacent to the BCPA between Locust Street and Douglas Street with the entrance located off of Locust Street): 23 parking spaces available for free, once per day, for up to 2 hours, Monday through Friday. Free unlimited parking is available evenings and weekends starting at 6:00 PM.
The Frontier Parking Lots (Lot A is located at the southeast corner of Main Street and Market Street Lot B is located at northwest corner of the same intersection): 21 & 27 parking spaces are available for free, once per day, for up to 2 hours, Monday through Friday. Free unlimited parking is available evenings and weekends starting at 6:00 PM.
The Lewis, Yockey & Brown, Inc. Lot (at the southwest corner of Mulberry Street and Main Street): 20 parking spaces are available for free, once per day, for up to 2 hours, Monday through Friday. Free unlimited parking is available evenings and weekends starting at 6:00 PM.
Parking time limit and other violations will result in citations starting at $10.00 per occurrence. Fines can be paid online from the link below or in-person at the the Hub in the Government Center 1st Floor (115 E. Washington St.). Please note the City of Bloomington does not accept starter/counter checks or American Express.
Need to speak to someone directly? Call 309-434-2509 (option 4)
Monthly Parking Passes:
Parking passes are available for $50.00 per month. Passes can be purchased for each of the two parking decks, the Douglas Lots, the Major Butler parking lot, and a variety of privately-owned parking lots with public parking leases with the City of Bloomington (passes are deck / lot specific). For more information, call City Parking at 309-434-2207 between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Passes can be purchased in-person at the City Parking office, 301 E. Jackson Street. Below is a map of the current options for leased parking in Downtown Bloomington.
Public Notice: Temporary Closure of the Major Butler Parking Lot (301 West Front St.)
Please be advised that the Major Butler Parking Lot in Bloomington, Illinois will be CLOSED from Monday, April 20 through Friday, April 24 to accommodate scheduled parking lot resurfacing activities.
During this period, all residents and parking permit holders at to the Major Butler lot are requested to utilize the Arena Parking Garage as an alternate parking location. The Arena garage is open for use and allows up to 4 hours of free parking a day. Each additional hour is $1 per hour, Free parking after 6PM daily. Use and access to the new former Elks lot will also be closed at this time.
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as this necessary improvement work is completed. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please contact the appropriate Facilities Management / Parking office at 309-434-2207.
You can find Downtown parking information at the below link/website
NEW: The Elks Lot (located West of Madison St. in Downtown Bloomington) now holds over 100 parking spaces for Downtown visitors.
UPCOMING: A new surface lot is soon to be completed at the Front and Center location East of Madison St. offering even more parking options for visitors of the Downtown district.
The following customer and business owner surveys regarding parking availability and proposed pavement marking changes were completed during 2020.
Proposed pavement marking changes are discussed in the following video and shown in these attachments. We're asking for your feedback on these proposed changes as well.
