Butler University has implemented a plan to immediately solve a part of the parking problem on campus.
In a letter to the Butler community, Ben Hunter, chief of staff, revealed a new parking lot and the reconfiguring of current lots to allow for more parking.
The new lot will be known as “I Lot” and will be located adjacent to Butler’s intramural fields. It will add an additional 400 parking spaces to campus.
The lot will be an estimated five-minute walk from central campus, and students who do not use their cars on a regular basis will be able to park there.
The letter highlighted what the university considered while making this decision, saying a commitment to sustainability, student assistance and safety was included.
The new lot will feature LED lighting, emergency phones, cameras and an ID-controlled entrance gate for safety.
The adjustments for current parking include 38 newly designated on-street spaces along 52nd Street for Apartment Village residents and 125 more faculty and staff spaces.
These changes and the creation of the “I Lot” will create more than 500 new spaces on campus.
A few changes can also be expected when registering a vehicle for parking. Students will have the option of three different permits at the prices of $200, $95 and $75 annually.
Last school year, all parking permits were $75. During the 2011-12 school year, all permits cost $60, according to The Collegian’s “Increased parking permits pay for new software” (Aug. 22, 2012).
The $200 permit will allow parking in any student resident (permit types B, CTS, UT and HV) and Greek resident (G) parking space on campus, 24 hours per day.
The $95 commuter permit (C) will allow parking in commuter spaces located in the Irwin and Hinkle parking lots, along Sunset Avenue and 49th Street, and at in the University Terrace lot.
The faculty and staff permit (A) will also be $95 annually.
The new $75 permit (I) will allow you to park only at the new lot west of the canal, adjacent to Butler’s intramural fields. The “I Lot” price is discounted because it is not directly adjacent to residences.
The decision for a new lot comes after the city of Indianapolis informed university administrators that new construction on campus would not be approved until the parking shortage was addressed.
Feedback from the Butler Board of Trustees, faculty and staff stakeholders, community neighbors and the Student Government Association last spring was used to formulate an immediate solution.
President James Danko announced last May that a Task Force was being formed to address the Campus Master Plan, which addresses the growth of Butler’s colleges, renovations and additions on to current student housing and the parking situation.
With this new parking lot and other parking adjustments, administrators hope there will be no issues with the city of Indianapolis to continue working on the Butler Master Plan.
In The Collegian’s “Not Enough Spots” (Oct. 31, 2011), it was reported that Butler had 2,585 parking spaces on campus and issued 3,997 parking permits for the 2011-12 school year.
Last September, the Butler community was notified of a possible new parking garage, but that project is currently on hold.
In the Collegian’s “Garage won’t solve parking woes” (Nov. 7, 2012), it was reported that the potential garage would house approximately 1,000 new parking spots. The net gain of parking spots on campus would be 400, as the garage would likely be built where a parking lot currently exists.
In “Garage won’t solve parking woes,” information provided by Hunter showed that as many as 850 permit holders would still be without a parking space were the garage to be built.
The cost per space in the garage was estimated to be more than $20,000, but the cost per space for the new “I Lot” is approximately $8,500, according to Park Butler.
The letter from Hunter was sent to the Butler community on Monday, July 29, and stated that the community can expect more information on how to register vehicles for campus parking the following day, Tuesday, July 30.
More information on Butler’s parking can be found online at Park Butler (http://www.butler.edu/parking).
