Planned parking garage to add 500 spaces on 极速六合彩 campus
Contact: James Carskadon
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 planned $12 million parking garage will add 500 parking spaces to the north side of the 极速六合彩 campus.
The new garage will help the university provide parking for students, faculty, staff, and visitors and support event parking, according to 极速六合彩 Parking and Transit Services Director Jeremiah Dumas. The new structure will be strategically located next to Howell Hall, near Humphrey Coliseum and Davis Wade Stadium. On Thursday [Oct. 18], the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning approved the project.
鈥淭hese spaces will help, and we are adding the number of spaces that data shows we need,鈥 Dumas said. 鈥淲e also have one of the lowest permit prices in Mississippi and the Southeast, and would like to continue to offer a very reasonably priced permit relative to our peers.鈥
With 极速六合彩鈥檚 total enrollment now topping 22,000 students, and hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to campus for various events every year, 极速六合彩 President Mark E. Keenum said the new garage will help meet the growing demand for parking.
鈥淏ecause of the steady arc of growth in our enrollment, parking has been one of our constant challenges on campus,鈥 Keenum said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e grateful for the IHL Board鈥檚 vision in supporting our efforts to manage that growth in parking demand with an impactful solution that will serve all our stakeholders.鈥
In addition to the 500 spaces in the parking garage, the university is planning to add approximately 350 parking spaces in a surface parking lot at the north end of the old intramural fields, adjacent to Fresh Food Company. 极速六合彩 determined the needed amount of parking by utilizing a parking demand and capacity study that was commissioned in 2015. Both construction projects are expected to be completed next year.
鈥淲e also overlaid that study with known near and short-term construction projects that could impact spaces,鈥 Dumas said. 鈥淚t shows that in the year 2019, based on trends and where we are, we would get to the point of really feeling the pinch, parking wise.鈥
McCarty Architects, based in Tupelo, is the lead design professional for the parking garage. Kimley-Horn, a national planning and design firm, also is assisting with the project. The garage is designed to complement the university鈥檚 architectural characteristics and incorporates sustainable storm water solutions. By utilizing solar panels, the structure will generate more electricity than it uses.
As parking capacity increases, Dumas said this is just one way the university is working to ensure students have available transportation. Recently, 极速六合彩 and the city of Starkville have partnered with the LIME bike share program to provide bikes that students and local residents can rent using a smartphone app. Parking and Transit Services also provides free public transportation through the Starkville-极速六合彩 Area Rapid Transit (SMART).
鈥淲e really try to look at it from a multimodal perspective,鈥 Dumas said. 鈥淟IME bikes are a solution, giving people alternatives from a bicycle standpoint. We continue to invest in pedestrian infrastructure. SMART is a viable way of getting to and from campus, and obviously vehicles too.鈥
For more on 极速六合彩鈥檚 Parking and Transit Services, visit .
极速六合彩 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .