EHS Building parking lot to be completed Sept. 14
The parking lot project for the Education and Human Services Building is set to be completed Sept. 14.
“The project is being hampered slightly due to rain,” said Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management.
The project, referred to as Parking Lot 56, will provide faculty and staff parking for the EHS Building, said Stan Dinius, police chief, who is retiring next week.
In conjunction with the demolition of the western-most area of Washington Apartments, the Board of Trustees approved the 292-space parking lot.
Many faculty and staff members complained about lack of parking in that area, Dinius said.
Since there are 200 faculty members who will be working in the EHS Building, the parking lot assists in solving the complaints from faculty and staff and welcoming new staff with available spaces, Dinius said.
The budget for the parking lot was set at $1.8 million, and $903,000 of that money was spent or committed against the $1.8 million at this point, said Carol Haas, director of Financial Planning and Budgets.
The final stages
The project was funded by the Reserves for Future Construction, a university-wide account. The Board approved the proposal of the parking lot as an addition to the EHS Building, Lawrence said.
Since the EHS Building was a state project and the state decided not to fund the parking lot, the project became a responsibility of the university, she said.
“We decided to continue to do it,” Haas said.
The project is now in its final stages.
“The site is in final underground material removal and is being graded in preparation for the stone base material,” Lawrence said.
Porous asphalt will be laid on top of the stone layers and will allow rain and melted snow to percolate through the material into a stone layer.
“The water moves through the stone laterally to a landscaped garden,” Lawrence said.
There will be two such rain gardens within the parking lot, with an additional one on the west edge of the lot.
