The Iowa Board of Regents recently approved the budget plan for a 185-stall parking deck over Lot 50B. The project will cost $3.1 million and will be funded from parking revenues.

Wednesday, the City of Ames Zoning Board of Adjustments voted unanimously to allow construction of a single level parking deck above the existing lot on the southeast corner of Knoll Road and Union Drive. Lot 50B is in a floodway zone due to College Creek, so cement pillars and walls will be used to meet conditions for the zone, Gary Reed, civil engineer for Kirkham, Michael & Associates, said.

“We’ve been working on this proposal now for about a year and a half,” said Capt. Doug Houghton, manager of the DPS parking division. “We are pleased that the regents continued to support the process.”

The upper deck will be parking for staff and faculty, while the bottom deck will be reserved for hourly fee parking, Houghton said.

“It’s come to a point on Central Campus that there is no room to park,” he said. “The ramp is to address the parking needs in the main campus area.”

Board of Regents executive director Greg Nichols agrees.

“The construction of the new business building across the street is bound to have an impact on the needs in that corner of campus,” Nichols said. “Accommodations need to be made. It has become a necessity.”

The parking division is a self-supporting enterprise, Nichols said, which means the entire budget for the parking deck is coming from parking revenues and parking bonds.

“There was $6 million worth of parking bonds to spend for parking,” Houghton said. “The first $3 million went to more parking spots at Jack Trice Stadium, and the second $3 million is going toward this new parking deck.”

Houghton said even though there is a great shuttle system from the commuter lot to campus, a greater level of services needs to be provided.

“We have to go up, there is no other choice,” he said.

Iowa State University generates approximately $1 million per year in parking fines alone. When comparing ISU’s revenue to other schools in the Big 12, ISU is doing just fine. Texas A&M’s revenue from fines is relatively low, at $2 million, even though they operate a much larger franchise, Houghton said.

“Right now Texas A&M is running with a $15-16 million parking revenue operation, compared to Iowa State’s $3 million,” he said. “We are running at about the same level when you compare the size of the two schools.”

The proposal was first brought to the Board of Regents in June 2002. Construction of the parking deck is planned to begin this spring, even though bidding has yet to be done to determine the construction company, Nichols said. The Board anticipates the completion of the project by the end of 2003.

“Even though this won’t put an end to illegal parking, it will provide people with a wider range of options and hopefully address some of the needs here on campus,” Houghton said.