By James El-Mallakh–

The construction of a new student recreation center on the west side of campus will bring relief from the crowded gym at the Swain Student Activities Center when its slated 2013 opening arrives. But the University of Louisville’s new recreation center will come at a cost – 658 parking spaces surrounding Kurz Hall will be removed to make room for it.

“I don’t even think the parking situation is good right now,” said Nya Wiley, a freshman psychology major. “I’m not even sure why you’d build a recreation center in the middle of a parking lot in the first place.”

Congested and crowded parking lots are a reality that many students say they deal with, and Larry Owsley, vice president of business affairs, knows the loss of space has the potential to add problems. He said he is committed to avoiding them.

“Before we displace any parking at the construction site, we will replace any displaced parking prior to the start of construction,” Owsley said.

But the area U of L wants to build new parking lots on has some strings attached. It is currently owned by the Chevron Corporation, and the ground the property sits on is polluted, which restricts what can be built on the land.

“Since it’s polluted we won’t be able to build a residence hall… so we’ll build a parking lot,” President James Ramsey told The Louisville Cardinal in September.

According to Owsley, the pollution will not be a concern “because a parking lot is a sufficient cap to address any pollution that may be underground.”

But the whether or not the pollution on the land is a concern won’t matter if the university is unable to acquire it.

Michael Mardis, dean of students said the Chevron property negotiations are “still being finalized, in terms of the location and what that property acquisition would be.”

However, some students say even if the university does acquire the property, replacing the existing number of parking spaces may not be enough.

Sam Sehlinger, a freshman undecided major, said he works at UPS, and “I come in late at night and it’s hard to find parking already.”

Jonathan Hellmann, a sophomore undecided major, is not optimistic about the school’s parking plans. “I mean parking is already bad here, anyway,” Hellmann said.

While Owsley said the university’s management “still have a few spaces available on a daily basis” and “there is no waiting list” for parking passes, the general consensus among students would appear to be that parking on campus is difficult.

All of the 1,230 available spaces that the university sells to resident students have been purchased, indicating that demand for space in the lots is high.

This problem could be compounded by the fact that an upcoming policy change in the university could make it mandatory for first-year students to live on campus next year. This policy change could increase the number of cars sitting on campus just as the university is removing lots.

“The timing may not be ideal,” said Owsley. “But we need to find a solution that works.”