A new R-8 parking lot will be built after spring commencement in mid-May behind the Liquid Crystal Institute to make room for the new College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology Building.

Larry Emling, manager of parking services, said the current R-5 parking lot, located across from Henderson Hall, will be losing around 220 parking spaces to the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology building. He said the R-5 parking lot currently serves faculty, staff and graduate students.

“After the construction of the new building, there will be about 140 permit spaces left in the R-5 lot, and they will be permitted to faculty and staff only,” Emling said. “There won’t be any R-5 permits available to graduate students anymore as they have been in the past.”

To make up for the loss of parking spaces in the R-5 lot, Emling said parking services will build a new R-8 parking lot in the soccer fields behind the Liquid Crystal Institute. Emling said the R-8 lot will be available to faculty, staff and a limited number of graduate students and will have roughly 200 new parking spaces.

“Grad students might be able to get an R-8 permit depending on how many we sell to the faculty and staff,” Emling said. “It might be advantageous to a grad student to buy a C-lot, commuter permit, because there’s a C-Science lot right across Summit Street. It’s not exactly a one-for-one parking space tradeoff, but it’s pretty close.”

Emling said he does not think the new R-8 lot location will affect faculty negatively. He thinks the lot may benefit some faculty and staff who work in Henderson Hall or the Liquid Crystal Institute because it will be closer to those buildings.

Emling said permits for the new R-8 parking lot will be available to faculty, staff and graduate students for fall 2013. He said the number of available graduate student parking spaces are to be determined and will be issued on a first-come first-serve basis.

Kim Rufra, associate director of recreational services, said the sporting events that were previously held at the LCI Soccer Field will now be relocated to the new recreational fields off Loop Road.

“I look at this move as a good thing,” Rufra said. “We are now going to be able to utilize the two new recreational fields that have lights and a new irrigation system.”

Andrew Konya, chemical physics graduate student, said he was unaware of the R-5 parking lot loss to graduate students in the math and science area of campus. Konya said he currently parks in a commuter, C-lot, or walks to class from his home.

“It’s a tradeoff with adding a new building,” Konya said. “The resources gained from a new engineering building are greater than losing a parking lot.”

Contact Arielle Campanalie at [email protected].