On Oct. 16, changes to the parking lots by the Strain Safety Building and Ski Lodge were announced via a campus update, affecting mainly commuter students or workers for the Leadership Development Center.
Due to construction at the Strain Safety Building, half of the commuter lot behind the building. That portion of the parking lot is unavailable so contractors can place equipment and safely demolish the auditorium.
To help offset the total number of commuter parking spaces lost, spaces along Campus Drive changed from staff to commuter parking. A temporary parking area with about a dozen commuter parking spaces was added in the Maintenance Center lot across Kiester Road.
“There’s still an overall loss to commuter parking, at least in the direct vicinity of the [Strain Safety] Building,” Scott Albert, vice president of facilities and planning, said.
The construction of the Strain Safety Building is slated to end by late July or early August 2018. By the fall 2018 semester, it is expected that the building and commuter parking lot will be open.
According to Albert, while the parking lot was not full at the beginning of the semester, more commuter students began to park by the Strain Safety Building within the first couple of weeks in the semester.
“With safety management classes being relocated elsewhere in preparation for the renovation, initially the lot was not utilized as fully as when classes were held in that building. But, with some of the challenges on lower campus, students quickly realized that there were additional commuter spaces available in that lot. The lot rapidly filled up after one to two weeks into the semester,” Albert said.
Concerning Ski Lodge parking, it was originally announced on a campus update that the entire Ski Lodge parking lot would be designated as no overnight parking. According to Michael Simmons, SRU chief of police, this was a miscommunication.
As of Oct. 19, 14 spaces are dedicated to the Leadership Development Center, in which no overnight parking is allowed. The rest of the parking spaces in the Ski Lodge parking lot will remain open parking with a permit.
