Tarleton State University parking is about to get a little tighter. Beginning on April 6, the lot east of Memorial Stadium (otherwise known as the Rec Center parking lot) will be closed to accommodate construction of the residence hall that will be built on the land. Dr. Mike Leese, Associate Vice President for Student Life, released the details in an email to the student body this morning.

“To better serve Tarleton students in the future, it will be necessary to make parking changes,” said Leese in the email.

Currently the east lot, along with its counterpart on the west side of Memorial Stadium, is a purple zone. However, the majority of vehicles parked in the east lot belong to residential students, with the west lot mostly occupied by commuters. Leese said he anticipates that the west lot will be taken up by residential parkers come April 6.

“For you, and this includes mostly residential students, that means finding an alternative parking space,” said Leese. “While most of you who currently park east of the stadium will now be able to park west of the stadium, you may also sometimes need to consider the remote parking spaces south of Washington Street.  This is also true for commuter students, who are currently parking on the west side of the stadium, which will now be taken by residential students.”

Leese noted that the remote lots south of Washington Street are never short on free spaces, and students may utilize the shuttle system to reach campus.

“The lots south of Washington always have spaces available, and a shuttle bus to transport you to the area of the tennis courts,” said Leese. “From there, if you prefer not to walk, golf cart shuttles can take you to various locations throughout the campus.”

It is worth noting that, while red zone vehicles are currently allowed to take up commuter spaces, key changes being made to parking this fall include barring residential students from parking in purple zones.

Leese explained the decision to close the lot prior to the end of the semester.

“While we realize [closing the lot] is an inconvenience, the construction company needs to start on these projects by April 6, if we are to open the new buildings for fall 2016,” Leese explained. “At that point, we finally expect to be able to bring all of our students who want university housing onto campus. For this fall, we still have almost 800 students scheduled to live in non-university off-campus housing, even after we add Integrity Hall.”

Leese closed by wishing students a successful semester and assuring them that their parking woes are being addressed.

“The parking situation for all students will improve this fall 2015,” Leese said. “While we are losing the east stadium lot to construction, current plans call for adding parking both north of the west stadium parking area (P20W) and at other locations around the campus. In all, we expect to have more available parking per student this fall.”

In addition to the closing of the east lot, a construction fence will also be raised around the perimeter of Traditions Hall on April 6 in anticipation of the new Honors Hall. Entrances and exits will not be affected for residents.