President Hallick talks renovations

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Pacific University will make many small renovations this summer and will start to address parking problems on campus according to President Hallick.

She said that parking has been an issue for faculty, staff and students for the past few years as the university has grown.

While there are enough total spots, there is a high demand for south end lots and the close lots during peak times in the week.

While the school is not looking to make money, they would like to continue to encourage everyone to use public transportation when possible and to park in the Cannery lot.

The original proposal would have raised student parking fees from $45 to $60 and would have introduced a $60 fee for faculty and staff, leaving the Cannery Lot and the Stoller lot free. A larger fee was suggested for those who have a reserved spot.

“This was not a way for us to make money, but a way to implement a behavioral change in where at least some faculty and staff parked,” Hallick said.

She said that students and faculty alike may feel that Cannery Lot is too far away from the main area of campus but she pointed out that when looking at a map it is actually no further than the Stoller lot from most points on the campus.

A new approach to is being drafted that would take place after July 1. Student fees would only be raised from $45 to $50, still cheaper in comparison to many other universities according to Hallick.

Faculty and staff would pay for the privilege of parking in a reserved spot and they would be assigned sparingly.

Regular parking passes would remain free for faculty and staff, but an annual bonus of about $180 would be given to the first 40 faculty or staff to come forward and exchange their parking passes for a special pass for the Cannery lot.

This pass would still allow parking on any lot during the summer months.

Pending Board approval, the University is also planning measures to alleviate some of the parking challenges.

These include reworking the large lot on the south side of the campus behind Jefferson, Taylor-Meade and Berglund Halls to increase parking spots and potentially purchasing another property on Cedar Street.

Other remodeling projects this summer that are pending board approval will include adding a modern classroom to Scott Hall focused on technology, the first of several to come in the next couple of years, and possible remodels of the clinical space in the west wing of Jefferson Hall, and the exterior and air handling in Strain Hall.

New research laboratories in Strain will be ready this summer, and additional major renovations in air handling and laboratory modernization will probably continue over the few years.

Small projects in renovation will also occur in several buildings on both the Forest Grove and Hillsboro Campuses.

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