SU, law school hope to build first parking garage

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Oct 31, 2009 - Page: 1B

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Southern University and its law school are teaming up to build what school officials hope becomes the first parking garage on campus.

Southern University Law Center Chancellor Freddie Pitcher said law students and undergraduates alike have complained about the lack of parking for years.

“We have a real serious problem, not just here (at the law school), but on this whole campus,” Pitcher said.

The preliminary plan is for a four-floor, 645-space garage with some retail space to be built near the law school, just north of Southern’s Higgins Hall.

The hope, Pitcher said, is to expedite garage construction next year by not using any state funds. Construction only takes about five months, so opening the garage in late 2010 is the goal if everything goes well, he said.

A feasibility review is ongoing to develop a public-private partnership to fund the garage that could utilize student and employee parking fees, federal funds and new market tax credits, which Pitcher said are possible because of Southern’s location in a low-income area.

New market tax credits have been used to fund the Tulane University Student Center and the expansion of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

As for federal dollars, for instance, the University of Louisiana at Monroe got $2.7 million from the Federal Transit Administration for its new parking facility that also has a bus stop and retail space. Southeastern Louisiana University received a $2.1 million federal earmark for its parking facility.

“We’re looking at all possibilities,” Pitcher said, calling the proposed garage a student recruitment tool as well.

Costs could range from about $8 million to $13 million, said Pitcher and Keith Williams, a local private developer who is assisting with the proposed development. Williams said the final cost also will depend on amenities like retail space or solar panels on the roof.

Likewise, LSU is hoping to begin construction in the summer on a delayed, 750-car parking facility east of the LSU Student Union, said Emmett David, LSU’s facility development director. LSU has waited for the bond market to improve, which is happening, David said. The facility would be LSU’s first parking garage as well.

Kofi Lomotey, chancellor of Southern’s main campus, said he is excited about the possibility of a parking garage on Southern’s campus.

“There’s a mutual need for additional parking spaces,” Lomotey said. “For many years, we’ve had an overall shortage for faculty and staff and students. It’s something we have to do. It’s just a matter of how we do it.