By Dennis O’Neil
Student parking could take a hit from a new research and office park development on the University of Louisville’s Health Sciences Campus.
The development is slated for the Haymarket parking area at the corner of Jefferson and Preston Streets, which currently provides 450 spaces for students with green passes.
The Haymarket project received a boost on Oct. 25 when a state panel approved a tax increment financing project (TIF) to help in the development. TIF is a process of redistributing property tax to help in infrastructure improvements, which will help build funding for the Haymarket development.
Though the project is still in its early stages, some university officials see this as a huge surge of momentum.
“The TIF grant helps the university move pieces of its plan forward in a much more accelerated fashion than we originally thought possible,” Health Sciences spokesperson Ellen DeGraffenreid said.
Some in the student body have expressed concern that the Haymarket lot is going to be eliminated in the future.
“Parking is an issue that needs to be taken seriously by the university,” senate president and second year medical school student Heather Dettro said. “Parking needs to be large enough to meet the capacity of students and in a safe part of town.”
Second year medical school student Jim Bell said he knows parking is already a big issue for some students.
“I get to school early, but I still have to walk a few blocks to get to my class,” Bell said. “I have heard some students talking about how they get to campus a little later and the lots are already full.”
DeGraffenreid said that the university is very concerned about the parking situation on HSC and is looking at different ways to improve it. There is already a plan for a new parking garage to be built at the corner of Chestnut and Clay streets. The garage would add 1700 new spaces for faculty and staff.
The garage is the same one that was denied by the Kentucky General Assembly in their 2006 session. The request is being resubmitted for the 2008 session and DeGraffenreid is confident that it will be granted this time around. If it is, the garage will take around 14 months to complete.
The university is also looking at different options around HSC to satisfy parking needs. DeGraffenreid stressed that the Haymarket project is still in its early stages, and that some of the area may remain open for student parking.
“We are also looking at leasing different areas around campus to satisfy parking needs until the garage is built,” DeGraffenreid said.
The Haymarket development is going to be used as a venue where U of L physicians will be able to continue and commercialize their research. There is also hope that the project will draw in other businesses to complement these research interests.
U of L President Dr. James R. Ramsey sees the project’s potential to establish Louisville as a major center for life sciences research.
“The city and the entire commonwealth will benefit as new companies are developed and others move in to join the center,” Ramsey said.
Even though some students are behind the project, they still do not think it should happen at the expense of student parking.
“I think the new buildings will have a positive effect on campus as long as other parking replaces the lots we are losing,” Dettro said.
“The closure of a major parking lot could send things into serious disarray for HSC students,” second year medical school student Andrew Feldman said. “It seems like we spend more money every year for parking only to receive less convenient services.”
