Construction to Begin on SU Parking Garage

By Ben Penserga
Staff Writer
The Daily Times

SALISBURY, MD---Construction on Salisbury University's $16 million parking garage will begin in August and should be completed by next summer.

The three-level structure on the corner of Wayne Avenue and Bateman Street will provide the university with an additional 850 parking spots once completed, said Greig Mitchell, SU's vice president of administration and finance.

While parking at SU has not been a problem -- the school has been using the parking lot at the vacant Dresser property for spillover -- the location of the new garage will be more convenient to people since it is closer to the school's athletic fields, Mitchell said.

"What's good about the parking lot is it is adjacent to venues where many people like to congregate," he said.

Construction of the garage is another leg of SU's 21st-century facilities master plan, which was introduced in 2003. Mitchell said the year deadline for the garage is meant to ensure there will be enough parking spaces when construction for the Perdue School of Business begins in late summer 2009.

Mitchell said the school will lose about 250 spots for students due to that construction, but those lost will be absorbed by the new garage.

"We'll still get much more than we give," he said.

Funding for the construction will in part be covered by the auxiliary fees -- which usually pay for things such as parking -- from students, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said once the garage is completed, it should fit in with the aesthetics of the rest of SU and bring more continuity to a campus split by Route 13.

"That part of campus (where the garage will be located) has always been seen as very different," he said.

And although environmental considerations usually do not factor into parking garage designs, Mitchell said they have taken measures to make the structure as "green" as a possible, such as the use of light-emitting diodes. LED lights have proven to be more durable and have a longer life compared to conventional lights.

"It's quite attractive, actually," he said of the overall design.

Reprinted courtesy of The Daily Times