Lack of parking for Kingsbury Hall patrons and U students has prompted the university to take action.
Two sites on campus are being considered as areas for new parking facilities, said Norm Chambers, assistant vice president of Auxiliary Services.
Parking in the northwest quadrant of campus has been a major problem for years now, Chambers said. In addition to students and faculty members who have class in that area, those who wish to attend performances at Kingsbury Hall and David P. Gardner Hall are also affected by the parking situation.
Greg Geilmann, director of Kingsbury Hall, said he considers parking to be the root of problems facing performance attendees.
“It’s the No. 1 complaint we hear from patrons,” Geilmann said regarding the U’s present state of parking.
Currently, those who wish to attend performances must park in the Rice-Eccles Stadium lot and either walk or take a shuttle to Kingsbury Hall and Gardner Hall. Geilmann said that performance attendees constantly ask when the U is going to fix the parking and that some have even refused to ride the shuttle or buy tickets until parking is fixed.
Sara Astle, a sophomore in vocal performance, said that it is extremely difficult to find parking when she performs in concerts and attends performances.
“It’s terrible, especially when there are multiple concerts at the music building and Kingsbury Hall,” Astle said. “It can be impossible to find a (parking) place.”
One of the possible sites for a parking facility is underneath the east end of Presidents’ Circle. All of the trees and valued landscape found in the center of Presidents’ Circle would remain undisturbed, Geilmann said. The other site under consideration is northeast of the Park Building near 100 South.
The cost for a new parking facility is still being determined, though it is anticipated that a donation of $5 million to $7 million will be needed.
Once the planning is finished, Chambers said the findings would be sent to the Board of Trustees and Board of Regents. From there, it would go to the 2008 Utah Legislative session for consideration.
Chambers said that any suggestions or comments about the sites under consideration should be sent to [email protected].