With the arrival of the new College of Architecture and Environmental Design building near Haymaker Parkway, some students are worried there may not be enough space to park when the building opens in 2016.

Although parking plans for the new building have not yet been made final, officials anticipate that parking near the new building will be minimal for architecture students, with only about 50 spots available for staff and visitors.

Tom Euclide, associate vice president for Facilities, Planning and Operations in the Office of the University Architect, said that plans for the new CAED building are nearly complete.

“We are going to limit parking in that area to a bare minimum. Mostly handicapped parking, service parking and a few other spots for visitors,” Euclide said.

Where will students park?

Students in the college will more than likely park in the parking garage downtown, said Parking Services Manager Larry Emling. 

The parking garage is open 24/7, and the PARTA campus bus service has been selling parking permits for the garage, which is usually filled at half capacity on a normal workday, Emling said.

“We know that there’s a demand for parking on that northeast side of campus,” he said. “Finding places to put it has been the challenge, and unfortunately, I don’t see anything changing for students right now other than what is currently available.”

On the northeast end of campus, student parking is very limited during the daytime hours. The only parking option is available on Lincoln Street to faculty and staff of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Fashion School.

Construction is currently underway for the new building, located on the intersection of Summit and Lincoln streets, for the Division for Institutional Advancement. With the addition of the new building, which will open this year, there will be about 120 new spots with about 80 of those being for faculty and staff.

Mike Bruder, executive director of Facilities, Planning and Design for the Office of the University Architect, said that many of the spots open up after staff leaves in the afternoon, which gives more parking options to those students. He said he hopes more 

parking will open up for students on the northeast end of campus.

“There is some additional property that we own in the area that we are looking to add some additional spaces,” Bruder said. “It’s still a little premature to say anything, but we are hoping that we can possibly add some additional parking in that property.”

There is also an R1 Lincoln lot located behind the Papa John’s on Main Street. This lot was expanded last summer and offers about 100 spots, Emling said.

Nothing new

Having trouble finding a place to park is no new struggle for architecture students.

Students in CAED currently share part of Taylor Hall with students from the School of Communication Studies. Taylor Hall is centrally located on campus surrounded by residence halls, making parking limited for students.

Katelyn Walker, Undergraduate Student Government senator for CAED, said that parking struggles have always been a problem for her and her peers, which is also a problem for all students on campus.

“I think it’s unfortunate that there isn’t space to add more parking. It would definitely be beneficial to students to have parking closer to the building,” Walker, a senior interior design major, said. “I think students are going to find places to park wherever it has to be, whether it’s in the garage or on the street somewhere.”

Safety is also a concern for architecture students who are expected to park in the parking garage, especially with their late nights working on projects in the studio.

“I don’t really want to walk to a parking garage or downtown at 3 in the morning when I finish in the studio,” Walker said.

Lindsey Berger, a junior advertising major, commutes to class, often spends late nights in Franklin Hall and parks her car at the lot adjacent to Rockwell Hall.

“JMC, fashion and architecture students are the ones on campus that probably spend the latest nights in their buildings working on project,” Berger said. “I guess my biggest concern is that there won’t be enough space for everyone after hours once the architecture building opens.”

Emling said he believes the overnight issue will “take care of itself” and all fall into place.

Looking forward

Although students are concerned about parking when the new building opens, officials don’t anticipate an issue in that area and are focused on making campus design efficient for students, faculty and staff.

“The construction is going to take approximately two years to complete,” Bruder said. “So while we may not have all the answers right now, we are confident that we will know by the time the building opens.” 

The university is constantly expanding, and Walker said that she is sure that university parking won’t be an issue for future students.  

“I think as the university continues to grow, they obviously have plans to expand that direction, so it will probably be a limited period of time where there’s not close parking,” Walker said. “I would assume that, in the future, there’s going to be more buildings and more parking close.”

For more information on all of the university projects, visit https://www2.kent.edu/universityarchitect/projects/index.cfm.

Contact Kianna Bugglin at [email protected].