With two lots out of commission, drivers on east campus may find the hunt for a parking spot a little trickier.

The entire parking lot with reserved spaces between the Bass Building and Tandy Hall/Dan Rogers Hall is closed due to the Bass Building expansion, according to an email sent by DeAnn Jones, coordinator of parking and transportation services. The lot closed Dec. 15, 2012 and will not reopen.

Instead, the Bass Building addition with be built on the site. Construction is expected to begin March 18, and be completed July 31, 2014, according to Jesse Rangel, project manager at the TCU Physical Plant.

The southern half of the parking lot that is located east of the Mary Couts Burnett Library was also closed on Dec. 15, 2012 to install utilities. The south half of the lot is expected to be fenced off until the middle of March, according to Harold Leeman, associate director of major projects.

The in the northern half of the parking lot will remain open through March 15, 2013 at which time it will be closed to begin construction on the Intellectual Commons Instructional Building. The new Instructional Building will sit where the parking lot is now and is also scheduled for completion on July 31, 2014.

Despite the lost parking lots, which had an estimated total of 137 parking spaces, there has been a net gain of 250 parking spots on east campus because of the new lot at Merida, Cantey, Lubbock and Lowden streets, Rangel said.

The handicapped spaces that were lost when the lots were closed moved to nearby lots. Three spaces were added south of the Moore Building, eight across Lowden Street from Smith Hall, four across Lubbock Avenue from Dan Rogers Hall and four across the library on Lowden Street.  

The loss of parking spaces is offset by the new parking lot surrounded by Merida, Cantey, Lubbock and Lowden Streets (called MCLL Parking Lot).