The President’s Administrative Council and the Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a four-story parking structure that will add more than 600 extra spaces.

The structure is scheduled to begin construction in January of 2011 and to be finished by the beginning of August 2011, according to Ken Bascom, senior director of facilities planning and construction. The structure will be between the pool and the baseball field. It will cost approximately $8.7 million to build, and the funding will stem from donations and set-aside Auxiliary fees.

Loss of Space while Constructing

According to Bascom, building the parking structure will mean the loss of about 180 campus parking spaces at the start of the 2011-2012 school year while construction is underway, but there will be ways around dealing with the absent parking spaces. The university is currently working on potential options.

Bascom said the university’s first option is to occupy 40 unused “tandem” spaces under the soccer field.

Proposed Solutions

Another option would be giving incentives to faculty to park in some nearby off-campus areas, Bascom said.

“One option would be parking in nearby church parking lots,” Bascom said.

A third option is already underway, according to Bascom, and will start next week –– all construction workers will be instructed to park on Biola Avenue.

“This will give more room to the students who have purchased parking permits,” he said.

Complaints about the Current Situation

Many Biola students said the current parking situation causes them to be late to class or tread several blocks on foot to get to campus.

“I wanted to park closer to my class because I had a heavy load to carry that morning, so I decided to park on campus that day,” said junior Aurora Reavis, who lives in the off-campus apartments down the street from Biola.

“After driving around the parking lot for 10 to 15 minutes, I wound up parking down the street anyway,” Reavis said. “I might as well have walked from home.”

Senior Aaron Kim, a commuter from Long Beach, had parking complaints as well.

“I have been five to 10 minutes late to class trying to find parking on campus,” he said. “If you don’t get here super early, it won’t happen. Even professors have been late because they can’t find parking.”

Parking complaints do not stop at the students, nor do they stop at the campus gates. According to Bascom, there have been complaints from Biola’s off-campus neighbors, as well.

“That is the single biggest complaint our neighbors have,” Bascom said.

History of the Parking Structure

Greg Balsano, vice president of university services, said Biola created a master plan for the structure before the soccer field was elevated and the parking structure built in 2003. According to Balsano, the original plan was to build a structure between the pool and baseball field and was first discussed in 2002, but demands for extra parking were not as urgent. Past school records show that total enrollment in 2002 included approximately 4,607 students.

In 2006, PAC discussed the planned structure further, and, in 2008, Biola appropriated $250,000 dollars to create a preliminary design for the structure as well as to study the site to prepare for construction. By then, enrollment head count was 5,752. In fall 2009, Biola enrolled 5,948 students, but the automobile count was even less than that of 2008, Balsano said.

“We were not sure which way enrollment was going,” Balsano said. “When the U.S. financial crisis hit, it put the project on hold.”

Increase in Students

The beginning of fall 2010’s semester, however, marked the largest enrollment number Biola has ever had with 4,878 full-time equivalent students. Balsano said the rush of new students made an impact –– the demand for parking was greatly increased. The plans for the parking structure were back in full swing by July.

“It was off the back burner and put on the front burner, big time,” Balsano said.
Biola is one of the many colleges and universities planning to expand with parking structures, Bascom said. Schools like Colorado State University, the University of Chicago and the University of Texas are also constructing new vertical lots.

“It’s like brushing your teeth,” Balsano said. “It’s not all that exciting in of itself, but it’s something you have to do to keep healthy. We need a healthy school. We cannot exist without classrooms, paved roads, bathrooms. It’s part of what allows us to exist.”