Prepare to pay to park in Columbia on eclipse weekend

Will Columbia’s public parking garages be open the weekend of the total eclipse? Yes.

Will they cost you? Yes.

And so will on-street meters, which will operate as usual Monday through Saturday in downtown districts.

The crush of locals and visitors expected in town for the Aug. 21 eclipse and the weekend leading up to it should be prepared with cash to pay for parking.

Prepare to pay cash only at the city’s Washington Street, Taylor Street, Lady Street, Park Street, Lincoln Street and PJ Cannon (at the corner of Taylor and Sumter streets) garages on Aug. 19-21. A $10 daily event parking fee will be charged at the decks that Saturday through Monday.

(Find a map of city parking garages at www.columbiasc.net/parking.)

City-owned surface parking lots on Sumter, Devine and Harden Streets also will be available for parking throughout the weekend and Monday. And the parking lot at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center will be open for parking on the day of the eclipse. The cost to park in any of the lots Monday will be $10 cash.

Coveted on-street parking meters, as always, cost 75 cents an hour and operate until 6 p.m. downtown. You can pay with coins or the PassportParking smartphone app. Street parking is free on Sundays.

Of course, chances are good you’ll find numerous private lots charging their own parking rates.

Regardless of where you end up parking, the best advice is: Bring cash.