Student Parking Lot 8 (SPL8, located on the southern perimeter of campus) has been undergoing renovations this past summer, with its original completion targeted before the start of the 2023 fall semester. However, as the 2023-2024 academic school year approaches, once again the demand for parking in back and with construction still underway, making coming back to school a lot harder for students and facility alike.

The timing of which construction is held is questioned, as the start to the fall semester is knowingly the busiest period of the academic year.

“…It’s better to get it done now than later” says fellow student and previous senator at large of the 2021-2022 student government association (SGA)Hunter Moore.

However, Moore shares his own frustration with parking in the first week, which included spending approximately 15-20 minutes finding a parking spot causing him to be late to class.

Newly appointed Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services, Calvin Yu was open in explaining the delay in construction of student parking lot 8, specifying that construction on campus grounds is especially difficult due to the large amounts of cobblestone located beneath the surface. This led to excavating and then refilling the holes for stability, to finally redrill and continue with construction; in which has delayed the project by a month.

It is important to note that the construction of SPL8 will shrink the size of parking lot 16 or otherwise known as the free parking lot, with parking permits costing standard students $40 and financial aid students $30.

Mr. Yu shared that in its completion, student parking lot 8 will provide over 1,500 parking spaces, of which over 740 will be shaded by solar panels. In addition, SPL8 is projected to generate 2.5 megawatts of renewable energy and hold 750kWh in battery storage, all while replacing the diesel generators that once illuminated SPL8. According to Mr. Yu the renovation of student parking lot 8, is scheduled to be complete by “mid to end of September”.