Parking garage opens in April

By Amanda Hunt

Arizona Daily Wildcat

After several delays, rainy days and a pesky pipe, the new parking garage is finally ready to open.

The garage will open April 10 and pre-registration for spaces starts Monday.

The garage was originally scheduled to open in January and was postponed until mid-February because of bad weather. It was delayed even longer because "typical kinds of construction problems," including moving an underground drainage pipe, slowed the building process, said Marlis Davis, director of Parking and Transportation Services.

Davis said these problems "are not anything new" in large construction projects.

The garage is part of West Main Gate Center, a complex being built on a lot between North Euclid Avenue, North Tyndall Avenue, East First Street and East University Boulevard, just west of campus.

The price for student spaces in the garage next fall will be $310. Parking and Transportation will prorate the prices daily for the next few months.

Travis Demaree, undeclared sophomore, said he is "not looking forward to the cost" of permits in the garage. He said he seldom parks on campus because he cannot afford "even a Zone One pass."

The garage will have a total of 1,088 spaces, which will be divided to accommodate students and various parts of the complex. About 650 spaces will be reserved for faculty and students until the rest of the complex is finished.

The West Main Gate Center will include an administrative office building which is slated for completion in October. Bob Preble, project mid

manager of the complex, said construction of the building is going smoothly and should be finished on schedule. Commercial businesses and a hotel will also be part of the complex.

"I think people are going to like (the garage)," Davis said. She said the building is attractive and will give the university additional parking spaces that "it really needs."

Patricia Farley, a business and public administration junior who lives near the site, is anxious for the garage to open up. "(The construction workers) start at 6 o'clock ... and make lots of noise," she said.

Demaree also lives near the garage but says he is not bothered by the noise.

Farley said she is concerned about the safety of the location, as well. She said she has had several near-accidents crossing North Euclid Avenue and thinks the increase in traffic for the garage will make that area "a disaster."

Farley will not be living near the complex next year because of the noise disturbance and because she says the garage blocks the entire view of campus.

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