After years of planning, the first piece of the Centre City project opened Thursday morning.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at 10 a.m. for the new Rite Aid Pharmacy on South Main Street.

“I’m excited,” said Mayor Tom Donaldson, who cut the ribbon alongside former Mayor Maggie Stock. “This is a great asset to Main Street. It’s the first gem in the crown jewel of the Centre City project.”

A proposed Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and a 225-space parking garage are expected to join the pharmacy on the block surrounded by South Main, South McKean, East Jefferson and East Cunningham streets.

While the Rite Aid had been under construction for about eight months, the Centre City project has been in planning for nearly a decade.

“I think every brick represents a meeting or a phone call,” said Stock, referencing the long effort to bring the development downtown.

Stock worked on the project through each of her eight years in office and was invited by Donaldson to the ceremony.

“This took years with many people’s efforts,” Stock said. “I’m very excited to see (the Rite Aid) is completed.”

The store, which officially opened at 8 a.m. Thursday, is larger than its predecessor across Main Street and features a drive-through pharmacy.

While officials celebrated the opening of the new store, Donaldson said the city has work to do on completing the rest of the Centre City project.

The city will be responsible for building the parking garage, which will be behind the Rite Aid.

Donaldson said the city just received a renewed credit rating as part of the process of securing a bond issue from PNC Bank to pay for the structure. The garage is expected to cost about $4.1 million, based on an industry-standard $19,600 per space. The city will need to bid the project to get an actual cost.

Donaldson said he expects the city will bid the project in January or February.

“We’re moving along,” he said.

The city will refinance an additional $1.7 million of existing parking authority debt into the bond issue. Council also has discussed possibly including in the bond issue about $250,000 for the Sullivan Run flood control projects, which includes the replacement of the West New Castle Street bridge.

The mayor said the structure will take about eight months to build.

The hotel, which has been approved for financing, is expected to take a year to 14 months to build.

Donaldson said J.S. Capitol Construction, the developer of the hotel, is waiting to begin construction on the 70-room structure until the parking garage is closer to breaking ground.

“They want to be sure they’re getting a parking garage,” he said.

The mayor said there is no doubt about the garage at this time.

“The garage is coming,” he said. “I’m not stopping until I’ve parked my car in there.”

There was some doubt earlier this year if there would be a garage as part of the project.

The parking authority in September voted to replace the structure with a surface lot for the hotel due to concerns about paying for the structure. However, the board rescinded that decision the following month, citing state law preventing public authorities from paying for private parking structures.

The city then had a joint meeting with the parking and redevelopment authorities to sort out financing for the garage and determined it was feasible for the city to build it.

“I’m glad it seems all the roadblocks are out of the way,” said Jim Chiprean, chairman of the parking authority.

Chiprean said he also is happy to see parking restored on the street around the new Rite Aid, which had previously been blocked off for construction.

“There’s now plenty of parking for people to come shop downtown this holiday season,” he said.

Art Cordwell, the director of the redevelopment authority, said the Centre City project as a whole will help revitalize downtown.

“I think people will really appreciate what this is,” he said, adding that the Rite Aid fit nicely into the block.

The now former Rite Aid across the street closed Wednesday. Tim Shaffer, who owns the building, said he has yet to find a replacement renter for the building.