Officials ponder sites for parkins garages
By Catherine Blalock
Staff Reporter
As parking problems on the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln campus
increase, university officials are talk
ing about how to solve them.
Parking garages may be an answer.
Paul Carlson, interim vice chancel
lor for business and finance, said, “Two
parking garages are being considered,
one for visitor parking and another for
the athletic department, faculty and
commuter students.”
Three sites are being considered for
a visitor parking garage, Carlson said.
One site is east of the Nebraska
Union next to the Alpha Phi sorority
house, another is west of the union and
the third is south of die union.
“None of the sites are viable in their
present situation,” Carlson said.
A plan forwarded to the NU Board
of Regents in January suggests that a
$5.5 million, 450-space parking ga
rage be built between the Nebraska
Union and Alpha Phi Sorority.
Chancellor Graham Spanier pulled
the item off the regents’ agenda, but
it’s still being considered.
Bob Sezker, spokesman for the
Historical Society, said increased traf
tic, employee parking and access to
the building’s loading docks were ar
eas of concern.
But a solution could be found.
Employees would be able to park in
the garage, Carlson said.
Kim Todd, campus landscape ar
chitect, said the society would still be
able to use its loading dock.
Before a parking garage could be
built east of the union, it would have to
made accessible to both die Historical
Society and the Alpha Phi Sorority,
Carlson said.
The site south of the union would
depend on the cost
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“Two parking garages
are being considered,
one for visitor parking
and another for the
athletic department,
faculty and commuter
students. ”
m
PAUL CARLSON
Interim Vice Chancellor
Business and Finance
It would require either buying out
the Wendy’s building or buying out its
lease, he said.
The site west of die union would
require rerouting die utilities, which
would cost one-half to three-quarters
of a million dollars, said Carlson.
A parking garage there would have
to be decreased from the proposed 450
stalls to 300 to 350.
There would still be some parking
left on die east side, and some land
scaping would be done to enhance the
looks of the area, Carlson said.
A decision at this time is on hold,
but it will be an economical one for all
involved, he said.
Parking fees are not contributing tc
funds for the garage. They are being
used to provide free bus transportation
to and from anywhere in Lincoln, tc
put more lights in the parking lots on
both campuses and to resurface park
ing lots.
Parking lots located between Vine
street and R street will be resurfaced
this summer, Carlson said.
Plans for a parking garage near the
stadium between 9th and 10th streets
and T and U streets is being discussed.
It would provide parking for the athlet
ic department, faculty and commute!
students. Commuter students will be
charged a fee, but the amount is un
known at this time, he said.
“It cannot exist without a huge
subsidy from the athletic department,’
Carlson said.
No figures or any decisions have
been made yet, he said.
A visitor parking garage would noi
be feasible at that location because
visitors are not going to park by the
stadium and walk to the union, a build
ing which they cannot see from the
stadium, Carlson said.