Construction workers walk to their cars in the Anderson Parking Facility while the university prepares to close it for an event. The construction of Lee and Penny Anderson Arena has caused parking shake-ups, forcing the university to move resident and commuter lots. (Adam Mueller/The Crest) 
The footprint of Anderson Arena stands on what was once lots V, X and Y which included spots for the School of Divinity. (Adam Mueller/The Crest) 
Transportation Services opened up a construction lot behind McNeely Hall to accommodate 25-30 cars before construction workers park in Anderson Parking Facility. (Adam Mueller/The Crest) 
Level R2 of Morrison Hall’s parking garage was made available to commuters, staff and faculty to make up for their lost spots in Anderson Parking Facility. (Adam Mueller/The Crest)
Rearranged parking at the University of St. Thomas caused confusion for students during the first week of class.
The impact of the construction of the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena’s has spread to many parts of student life, including parking. The arena’s approximate 250,000 square foot area took away lots V, X and Y, including parking spots from the School of Divinity, which caused a domino effect.
“There’s agreement with the university that they have, like, 120 spaces, so we had to allocate them certain spaces. The closest spot was to put them in the lower level of APF,” Director of Public Safety Zachary DuBois said.
Senior Nyah Rich commutes to school from Dinkytown each day. She was late to her first three days of class due to parking struggles, a problem she hadn’t experienced before.
“I get here like 30 minutes early and it takes me probably 30-35 minutes to find parking, and then wherever I park, I have to walk from,” Rich said.
Rich, who has most of her classes on south campus, tried to park in Anderson Parking Facility on the first day of classes.
“They have the third floor of the Anderson parking structure sectioned off for resident students now, which is supposed to be a commuter lot,” Rich said.
The third floor of APF was open to commuters, staff and faculty last year, but campus construction caused shakeups.
The residence spots that had previously been in that lower level were moved to the third floor of the APF. Parking services opened up the R2 level of Morrison Parking Garage to commuters, staff and faculty to offset that loss.
The site itself isn’t the only part of the building process that is throwing off parking. Construction workers have been parking on the top level of APF, which parking services said it plans on addressing.
“We’re also trying to look at some creative places in other parts of campus. If we get them over there, we’re opening up more space,” said Peg Olson, manager of transportation services.
These spaces include a construction lot, Lot K, that the workers will fill before using the fourth floor of APF. Parking services say that this will result in 25-30 less vehicles in APF. The lot is behind the Summit Classroom Building and McNeely Hall.
Parking services gave students a grace period for the first week of class and didn’t ticket them, but have since begun.
“There’s generally a week that we generally try to do no ticketing and enforcement, just so people can get on campus… they might have been moved in and they don’t know where to park, so that gives them time to adjust,” DuBois said.
Citations can range from just a warning to a $200 “lost, stolen, invalid, false or altered” parking permit according to the university website. DuBois said that the tickets aren’t a “grab for money” but are more about educating students on what not to do.
Rich now parks in Morrison R2, which is farther from her classes. But she says that’s not her biggest frustration.
“I think the communication could have been better,” Rich said.
Olson says students should look at the parking portal or their award letter to see where they can park on campus.
Rich also said that she doesn’t think there are enough spots for commuters.
Olson said there is one available parking spot to every resident permit sold, but not for commuter permits.
“If I’m a commuter, I might not be here in the evening… but also commuters aren’t even here every single day,” Olson said. “If you have 500 spots and you only sell 500 commuter spots, they’re going to be empty quite a bit of time.”
Olson said the same applies for faculty and staff. Dubois also said that the university is always looking at places to park more people.
“It is being heavily reviewed, especially with the new arena. We’re working with consultants and other stuff on parking, where can people park during game days (and) when stuff is maxed out,” DuBois said.
Olson said that every senior, junior and a majority of sophomores that wanted a parking permit got one.
“Not all commuters are from St. Paul or the surrounding areas and so to spring it on them that they’re going to have to drive around for a while is kind of hard,” Rich said, “So just better communication and helping out the commuters.”
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.