Installation of new artificial turf fields at the baseball and softball fields has caused the closure of
half of parking lot four. The project is projected to finish in early November.
Located in the back of campus behind Rubloff Hall, the fields are being “replaced with artificial
turf fields” as noted by Peter Skach, the university’s Director of Facilities Services. The fields
had previously been grass fields.
Skach noted that construction in the parking lot began in late July, when “some underground
utilities that ran underneath the softball field were rerouted around the outside of the field.”
In order to accommodate for the loss of parking space, Skach stated that the university has
“worked with the general contractor to minimize the amount of parking used by the construction
activity.”
Skach continued:“an additional neighboring parking lot at Queen of Martyrs has been made
available for overflow parking.” Located down the street from the university, Queen of Martyrs
is a neighborhood Catholic grammar school.
All of the university’s other parking lots have remained open.
Junior Cassidy Dawson stated that there have been times where parking has taken her “up to 20
mins before finding a spot.”
Dawson added that there have been times where she “had to circle around to all parking lots
multiple times to find a spot.”
On August 30, 2023 students were directed to the overflow parking lot at Queen of Martyrs
following a traffic jam in parking lot seven. Public Safety officers were present to direct traffic.
Prior to that, the overflow parking lot had not really been used. Skach stated that “Public Safety
has managed the distribution of campus parking very well. For the most part, parking has been
accommodated within our campus lots and only minimal use of street parking and the Queen of
Martyrs lot has been experienced.”
The project is funded by the university’s capital project fund, as noted by Skach.