By the fall of 2025, an estimated 1,200 parking spots will be gone as TCU builds a new residence hall and parking garage.
“You need to see ‘The Hunger Games,’ because then you’ll understand it,” Assistant Vice Chancellor of Public Safety Adrian Andrews said. “It’s going to be a little bit bananas.”
After this semester is over, Andrews said, the five lots between Molly Reid Hall, formerly known as GrandMarc Apartments, and the TCU Bookstore will be closed. By fall, lots 15, 28, 29 and 30 will be gone.
The loss in parking means most incoming first-year students won’t be allowed to bring cars to campus.
“Unless they have an exception for having a job or a medical reason, they will be asked not to bring cars because they won’t be able to get permits on campus,” Andrews said.
There are plans to increase the number of campus shuttles, but with parking already tight, the prospect of losing lots on east campus hasn’t gone over well.
“This is going to be ridiculous,” Brooke Choyce, a junior psychology major, said. “We are already struggling with parking.”
Choyce said she is concerned about arriving to class late because of the parking crunch, but she did note the plans to lessen the impact.
“At least they have a solution to combat the overflow of cars with the shuttle service and eventually the parking garage,” she said.
Jake Jolstad, a senior finance major, is concerned about the loss of parking outside of Molly Reid Hall.
“Losing the parking in front of GrandMarc is going to make it harder for visitors and me because that’s a lot of space that is going to make parking in the other lots even harder,” Jolstad said. “I think I should probably just get a scooter.”
There won’t be any relief to the parking squeeze until 2026.
“They’re going to put a 1,000-car parking garage on the EC29,” Andrews said. “It’s going to be nice, but it won’t be there until maybe October of 2026 at the present time.”
To combat the loss of parking spaces, TCU will have shuttles busing students from lots 3 and 4.
“The bus route will travel over to University Drive and drop off three or four places, different places here and make a circle, and it has to be every 10 minutes,” Andrews said. “It’s very dependable so that our young people could park here, jump on the shuttle and then come over to this side.”
The university announced the first round of parking lot closures in an April 1 email, which explained, “Some lots will never reopen because they will be used to build residence halls or academic buildings.”
TCU’s latest master plan forecasts an undergraduate enrollment of 15,000 students by 2034.
