On Thursday August 19, 2021 Tarleton State University President, Dr. James Hurley, revealed that plans are in action to provide a stacked parking structure on the Tarleton Stephenville Campus. This surprise came during the grand opening of the newly renovated Barry B. Thompson Student Center including the new Texans Campus Store and the Chick-fil-A.

“I think it means that upon completion there will be more convenient parking, obviously more efficient parking, hopefully to free up some additional areas as well for future growth [and] development. . . and we’ve just outgrown the surface lot mentality,” Assistant Vice President for Campus Operations, David V. Martin said.

The planning for the project has been under way for months now and Martin explained that the design and location of the structure are not set in stone. Students should not expect the project to be completed in the near future as these are only the beginning steps.

“What we’ve done is basically demonstrate the size we need, how it needs to function those kinds of things. So, [the project] is very early on,” Martin said.

While there are still many details unfinished, the general location of the structure will be along Washington Street and students can expect the structure to be safe.

“I think it just demonstrates a commitment from the institution to the students that we do everything we can to give them a great student experience, to give them a good safe environment. So, this thing will be well lit, it’ll be camera monitored, it’ll be centrally located [and] easy to maintain and observe,” Martin said.