Post by B on Jan 9, 2006 3:04:36 GMT -5
Friday, January 6, 2006
N.C. A&T parking deck aims to ease problem
By Lanita Withers
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- As enrollment has grown at N.C. A&T, so has the crunch for parking.
A three-story, 514-space parking deck now under construction should help ease some of the congestion.
In the past five years, A&T's student body has grown by more than 30 percent, from 8,319 students in 2001 to 11,103 students in 2005, according to data from a university Web site. The campus also has about 1,700 faculty and staff members.
The growth is anticipated to continue, said Andrew M. Perkins Jr., the university's assistant vice chancellor for facilities and engineering.
"We decided we needed to be proactive in solving some of the problems we knew we had," he said.
The university has already added about 2,000 horizontal parking spaces across campus over the past five years, he said. Once the deck is completed, the campus will have close to 5,000 parking spaces, Perkins said.
The deck, which will be open to students, staff and visitors, is being built over part of the Obermeyer surface parking lot, behind Bluford Library and near Laurel and Obermeyer streets. Part of the lot will be unavailable during the construction of the deck. Temporary gravel parking lots will be created off Daniel Street and Benbow Road.
The deck's location, near busy areas of campus, is ideal, Perkins said.
"This parking deck is in the center of the academic and staff area of campus," he said. "You can park your car and be within five minutes of anywhere north, south, east or west of that parking deck."
The deck, the first for the university, will cost $6.3 million. Construction began Thursday, and the project is scheduled to be done by fall.
N.C. A&T parking deck aims to ease problem
By Lanita Withers
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- As enrollment has grown at N.C. A&T, so has the crunch for parking.
A three-story, 514-space parking deck now under construction should help ease some of the congestion.
In the past five years, A&T's student body has grown by more than 30 percent, from 8,319 students in 2001 to 11,103 students in 2005, according to data from a university Web site. The campus also has about 1,700 faculty and staff members.
The growth is anticipated to continue, said Andrew M. Perkins Jr., the university's assistant vice chancellor for facilities and engineering.
"We decided we needed to be proactive in solving some of the problems we knew we had," he said.
The university has already added about 2,000 horizontal parking spaces across campus over the past five years, he said. Once the deck is completed, the campus will have close to 5,000 parking spaces, Perkins said.
The deck, which will be open to students, staff and visitors, is being built over part of the Obermeyer surface parking lot, behind Bluford Library and near Laurel and Obermeyer streets. Part of the lot will be unavailable during the construction of the deck. Temporary gravel parking lots will be created off Daniel Street and Benbow Road.
The deck's location, near busy areas of campus, is ideal, Perkins said.
"This parking deck is in the center of the academic and staff area of campus," he said. "You can park your car and be within five minutes of anywhere north, south, east or west of that parking deck."
The deck, the first for the university, will cost $6.3 million. Construction began Thursday, and the project is scheduled to be done by fall.