Construction begins on campus parking garage

Construction has begun at the site of a new University garage that IU officials hope will alleviate the growing parking problem on campus. \nThe parking garage, which is being constructed on the corner of Henderson Street and Atwater Avenue, will add more than 400 new parking spots on the southwest side of campus. The 4 1/2 level garage will also house offices for IU Parking Operations.\nThe stretch of Fess Street between Third Street and Atwater Avenue is closed to traffic and will remain closed for the duration of the project, which University architect Robert Meadows said will last until August. The garage is scheduled to be open in time for the fall semester. \nThe location was chosen based on a study conducted by IU Parking Operations. The study compared the number of employees in each area of campus with the number of parking spots available, said Maggie Whitlow, director of IU Transportation Services. The southwest quadrant had the greatest lack of parking on campus with about 600 parking spots needed, she said.\nMeadows said the opening of the Simon Hall Life Sciences Building is also a big reason for the garage. Simon Hall, which will be turned over to the University by the general contractor in May, will add around 400 new employees to the already highly populated area. \nThe garage is to be used mainly for employees and will require an A permit to park in the building. Whitlow said that there has been talk of making the garage available for pay parking in addition to the A-permit parking, but the official decision has not yet been made.\nBecause the garage will be the first thing people see on IU's campus when traveling east on Atwater Avenue, the University wanted to make sure the new building will be a pleasant addition to the campus, Meadows said. \n"This is the most thought-out parking garage on campus," he said.\nThe building will be constructed with a limestone exterior and is designed to match the collegiate Gothic style of the rest of the campus buildings. \n"If you can call a parking garage handsome, this is definitely a handsome building," Meadows said. "A lot of effort and concern went into the design of this building."\nRobert Clift, a graduate student at IU who lives on Atwater just east of Fess Street, said he was unaware that the construction across the street was for a new parking garage. Clift said if IU needs that much parking then the University should work on better means of transportation for employees. Creating alternative ways to get employees to and from campus would reduce the need for additional parking instead of constructing a large parking garage which will block the view of residents in the surrounding neighborhood, he said.\n"I haven't seen the plans for it yet but it's probably going to be an eyesore," he said. "It's a shame that the people who chose to live in walking distance to campus are the ones having to suffer with looking at an eyesore everyday"