Ravine Fills Need for Parking

In August, students will return to a different campus than what they left in May.

Ground Zero and DECCO Construction Company started preparing additional parking for faculty, staff and students next semester.

Before finals, Ground Zero had already begun filling in the ravine between the Admissions Building and the Honors Center.

Steve Brankle, director of facilities services, said the President’s Cabinet approved the parking lot, and that Ground Zero started preparing the ground before finals. The new parking lot will create more spots for the admissions office and financial aid and make the lot safer. Visitors and staff who park in front of the Admissions Building will no longer have to back into traffic.

Brankle said the lot will have four spots adjacent to the building, two visitor and two handicapped, and have a total capacity of about 30 vehicles.
Electrical lines will also be taken down and buried between the Admissions Building and Honors Center, Brankle said.

Scott Wanzer, director of campus safety, said that the parking lot will operate like a normal faculty and staff lot. Anyone will be able to use the lot from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays, and on weekends without being ticketed.

Some students complained about the construction process starting before the end of the semester because the construction crew knocked out the sidewalk students usually take to and from the Honors Center.

Brankle explained the construction date was moved up, because oil prices were expected to rise soon and asphalt is an oil product. Additionally, JBU had finished with large visit days for admissions, and an earlier start date would help ensure completion before the Early Registration Program, which will take place June 15-16.

Junior Laura Roller, one student who was mildly irritated at the construction, explained that the detour behind the Admissions Building down the ravine does not work well for bicycles. She said there was no safe way for bicyclists to get through. Though Roller said she understands the reasoning for the construction date, she said it would have been helpful to have JBU put something out to let students know about the construction and why it started before the semester ended.

The new parking lot is one of many projects campus will undergo over the summer. Bulldozing has already begun for a new parking lot connecting the lots on either end of the Learning Resource Center. Both lots are scheduled for completion in mid to late June.

The Great Hall expansion is also scheduled to begin over the summer as well as one of the Northslope townhouse apartments. Both plan to be completed next summer.

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