The Compass

Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: News

Buddy Waldrep, public safety officer, says that car boots haven't been used on a student vehicle so far, but is ready to install one if persistent students keep violating parking rules on campus.

A $35 parking fee will be added to Gainesville State College student expenses this coming fall semester. The fee is being implemented to pay for the $4.5 million two level parking garage that will be built between the parking lots of the physical education building and Lanier Tech, early next year.
In addition to the new parking fee, the cost of parking fines recently increased from $10 to $20 in January and parking tags will increase from $10 to $20 this coming fall.
"We're off setting the costs of the new parking garage. It's the lowest amount we could come up with, while still being able to pay it off within a reasonable number of years," said Paul Glaser, vice president of business and finance.
Glaser noted that the construction of the new parking facility, which will add between three hundred and four hundred parking spots, is especially timely because the student body is expected to make up to an 11 percent increase this fall, adding another 6 to 7 hundred students to GSC.
"The college will definitely need those extra parking spaces. The new garage will be a great improvement to our parking situation," said Glaser.
The lack of parking at GSC has been a frequent complaint among students for years. As the college grows, the harder it becomes for students to find adequate parking or legal parking, for that matter. Cars parked on the grass or in other invented spots is a common sight around campus. The student body has consistently requested that there be more parking options made available to them.
"Students have been asking about the parking problem since I've been here, and I've been here for 19 years!" said Tom Walter, vice president of student development and enrollment management.
Walter believes the new parking garage will help alleviate the current overcrowded parking problem and possesses some inherent benefits over regular parking lots.
"I definitely think the new parking garage will help our parking situation. It will also help preserve more green space on campus because we are building up, instead of paving more and more land," explained Walter.
The parking garage will begin construction this July and is hoped to be completed by February 2009, said Glaser. These dates are still tentative.
Glaser also added that once the parking garage project is completed, the next parking expansion project will take place when the construction of the new classroom buildings begins in approximately 18 months.

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