New fence brings parking problems

Many students were surprised to see a giant, green fence when they arrived at school on Monday, March 17.

The green fence, installed in the back parking lots near the 100 buildings, cut off the parking lot and access to the campus for students parking on the public street and coming from nearby.

Construction on campus in the past year has been ongoing as several upgrades and changes to the campus are underway.

The most notable addition is a black, iron fence that went up around the campus last semester. Before, students could enter the parking lot next to the softball field from the adjacent street.

Now that the construction project to renovate the 100 buildings is underway, the new fence is locked so the adjacent parking lot can be used for construction staging.

“The 100 and 200 buildings are enclosed in fencing as part of the Votech renovations on campus,” said Seher Awan, business services supervisor. “The only building set to be demolished is the 300 building, which is not included in the renovations.”

Students can no longer drive into the parking lot; it is only open to pedestrian traffic.

Elgin Hawkin, 20, biology major, said he feels “inconvenienced and frustrated by having to walk around the Child Development (Building), adding an extra six to seven minutes to get on campus.”

Since recent construction began and the green fence was installed, parking has become a hassle for many students.

“They can send a text or email about stolen catalytic converters, amber alerts or help with taxes, but how come they cannot send one that will talk about the parking situation or major construction?” said Pedro Sanchez, 23, biology major.

Since campus upgrades began, 49-year-old Magda Gonzalez was struck and killed by a construction-related accident near the Fine Arts Building in 2013.

Kathy Bruga, yoga professor, said, as a faculty member, she received updates from Gilbane about on-campus construction.

Bruga said she has to park in the student parking lot and walk farther to her morning yoga class, which is located in one of the buildings slated to be part of the new campus upgrades.