Old band hall cleared to make 200 parking spaces
Photo by Lauren Roberts
Due to shortage of parking on campus, a new parking lot is under construction. It is to be done by mid-March and it will have approximately 200 spaces for the benefit of commuter parking. The new construction in total will cost half a million dollars. The higher education assistants’ funds will provide the funds for the project.
“There is sometimes difficulty in locating close parking with the early classes, and the new lots will alleviate that with the addition of new spaces as opposed to going to south campus,” Rick Frank, assistant director of facilities services, said.
The lot is going to benefit commuter parking but does not add to the parking spots the residents need to acquire. According to Frank, there are no new parking lots planned for the future as of the present time, but a few spaces will be added to an already existing lot.
“I do not believe that the new parking being constructed is going to be beneficial to the MSU residents,” Ta’Les Russell, a freshman in business marketing said. “It is true that we need more parking, but the location is a far distance from the school and it would be intended for commuters. Therefore, it would not be beneficial for residents, so we would still be in the same boat we are currently in with trying to find parking especially parking near the dorms where we live.”
To date, there is a variety of places where students living on campus can park: the lots behind Pierce Hall and in front of Killingworth, in front of Pierce Hall, in the apartment lots and the overflow. The other spots are for commuters and faculty members. Even with the current available lots, students still complain about not being able to find spots to park in.
“Honestly, parking on campus is ridiculous,” Jasmine Hall, a freshman in psychology, said. “While there are several places for commuters, it is a long draining process to find parking near the residents on campus.”
According to Chief of Police Dan Williams, there is approximately a 2-to-1 ratio of students to parking spaces. With the addition of the 84 parking spaces near the police station, there will be a total of 2,464 parking spaces dedicated to students. Out of the total parking spots, 1,113 are for strictly commuter parking, 736 for strictly residents and 615 for a combination of the two.
The installation of the new parking lots will have no effect on residential parking. There are no plans for additional residential parking at this time.
