New parking tower on Girard Park Circle gives motorists more options

The University of Louisiana campus will have more than 1,000 new parking spaces next semester with the recent construction of a parking tower.
The six-story tower faces East Lewis Street. Vehicles will enter from Girard Park Circle, via a driveway between Fletcher and Oliver halls.
“It will allow more people to park in the heart of campus,” said Cheri Soileau, director of the Office of Transportation Services.
The upper three levels of the tower will be designated for University students, faculty and staff members who have purchased permits. Permits for about 525 parking spaces are being sold online and at the University’s transportation office on a first come, first served basis, Soileau said. The permits cost $250 per semester in the fall and spring. They also can be purchased for $100 for the summer semester, or $600 per year.
Access to the top three levels of the parking tower will be controlled with gates. Motorists will scan their University ID cards to activate the arms of the gate.
Parking on the lower three levels will be open to anyone, including visitors, at a flat rate of $6 per 12-hour period. Motorists will park in numbered spaces, and pay the daily rate at automated stations on each of the three lower levels.
“They will have to punch in the number of their space, and pay with a credit card before they walk out of the parking tower,” Soileau said.
The “gateless system” on the lower three levels is designed to reduce wait times for motorists entering and exiting at peak times, such as when classes end, or the lunch hour.
People who fail to pay will be subject to tickets, or have their vehicle immobilized with a wheel clamp.
Sixty video cameras mounted inside and outside the parking tower will help transportation and public safety officials monitor activity in and around the structure. Each floor will have two “code blue” call boxes. The boxes are equipped with a button that, when pushed, will alert police to an emergency.
The parking tower also features LED lighting that keeps the interior bright when it’s dark outside, stairwells, and an elevator.
“It’s very well lit, and hopefully people will feel more secure because of these features,” Soileau said.
Construction on the tower, which began in November 2013, was completed in early December, said Bill Crist, the University’s director of facilities management.
The parking tower was approved by the Louisiana State Bond Commission and by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget in September 2013. It was financed through the private, non-profit Ragin’ Cajun Facilities Inc.
The project was funded through several sources, including the sale of bonds, self-assessed student fees and auxiliary revenue. No state monies were used.
Ambling Development was the contractor for the parking tower, Crist said.
The new building is part of the University Master Plan, which will guide campus development and growth for the next several years. The plan includes provisions for campus structures, roads, spaces, signage and perimeter developments.

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