Plans for the university's first parking garage are expected to be drawn up within the next month, according to an email from Harold Leeman, the associate director of major project and facilities planning.
Leeman said the tentative completion date is summer of 2014.
While plans will be drawn up, it is still up to the Board of Trustees to give approval to start building the parking garage. However, they have only approved the design phase.
The parking garage would be located on the far northwest part of the Worth Hills parking lots, near the base of Bellaire Hill, Leeman said.
More parking is needed as the university continues to expand residential areas, Vice Chancellor Kathryn Cavins-Tull wrote via email.
“As we move forward to build additional residential spaces, it is our desire and city code that we provide parking for those residences,” she wrote
Cavins-Tull cites the new parking lot at the intersection of Lowden Street and Lubbock Avenue as an example of TCU’s desire to provide parking for students.
But, Cavins-Tull wrote, because land is not always available for these large lots, parking garages may be the university's only option going forward.
Parking garages are very expensive, Cavins-Tull wrote. She added that there are many variables that go into the construction of these parking garages.
“How many spaces, will there be any other services in the garage, how much is above ground and how much is below, what kind of exterior?” Cavins-Tull wrote.
While she did not put a price on the proposed parking garage, former Vice Chancellor Don Mills said in 2010 that a basic garage would be about $10,000-$12,000 a parking space, according to a 360 article.
The price is worth it to commuter student Ryan Seale. Seale, a senior business major, said that parking has gotten worse every year for the three years he has commuted, and parking garages would be welcomed.
“I think it would be beneficial for most students because it would provide a secure location that would be actively monitored,” Seale said. “Right now it’s terrible.”
The approval to go forward with construction would happen at the spring board meeting in 2013, Leeman said.
Until then, students would have to park in the spaces provided by the university. These spaces can be found by going to TCU Police's website.
