Parking structure construction to close down Intramural Field

By Michael Falcone
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Construction of a new parking structure, which is to provide an
additional 1,500 parking spaces to the UCLA community, is expected
to begin this summer beneath the Intramural Field.

The University of California Board of Regents approved the
funding of $44 million for the proposal at its May meeting in San
Francisco, according to Renee Fortier, associate director of
Transportation Services. Parking Services, along with the
university’s Capital Programs office, will select a
contractor to build the parking lot within the next few weeks.

Fortier forecasts the project will be completed by Fall 2003.
The IM Field will be closed beginning this summer and throughout
the duration of the project.

The field’s closure will decrease the already limited
amount of space available for campus sports and recreational
activities.

But UCLA Recreational Affairs plans to find alternative venues
without having to cut programs during the construction period.

“Clearly losing nine acres of playing field grass, when
you’re on a campus that has the second least amount of
playing field grass of all colleges over 25,000 students, is a
problem,” said Mike DeLuca, associate director of
Recreational Affairs.

DeLuca said his office worked in tandem with Parking Services,
while plans for the new lot were being developed.

In addition, DeLuca said when the project is complete, the
campus will benefit from an IM field that has a new surface and new
drainage and lighting. Practices for IM and club sports will be
relocated to both the North Athletic Field and Marshall Field at
Drake Stadium.

DeLuca projected slight variations in some sports due to space
constraints, such as the planned use of Incrediballs for IM
softball teams.

“I think we’ve got a proactive plan to try to
minimize the overall impacts. We’re going to be
creative,” DeLuca said.

“It’s not going to be without some pain, but I
really think the future benefits will outweigh the impacts,”
he continued.

The parking structure’s construction had come under fire
while it was in its planning stages from some members of the campus
community, who said the university should allocate its resources to
public transportation options rather than build more parking
spaces.

Once of the project’s critics, public policy Professor
Donald Shoup, who also directs UCLA’s Institute of
Transportation Studies, pointed out in March that the cost of
building 23 parking spaces is enough to fund the BruinGo! bus
program for a year.

BruinGo!, which provides free rides to Bruin Card holders on the
Santa Monica Big Blue Bus line, won’t be in effect this
summer but will resume in the fall.

The completion of the new structure may begin to ease the
parking shortage problem on campus, but with an increase in
enrollment and projected campus growth, it is unlikely the number
of parking spaces on campus will be able to meet the total demand
any time soon.

But Fortier said even with an increase in summer session
enrollment, her office was able to accommodate everyone who needed
a pass this summer. The university has issued 4,300 student parking
permits so far for the summer.

Unlike during the regular school year when parking passes are
issued on a need-based point system, Parking Services doled out
summer permits on a first-come, first-served basis starting in
early May.

UCLA parking officials also recently announced that for the
first time in two years, they are raising the fines for parking
violations in an attempt to keep up with citation fees in the
surrounding area and to discourage would-be violators from misusing
UCLA parking facilities.

Fortier said that revenue from the parking citations are used to
support the Campus Express bus program as well as alternative
transportation programs, such as UCLA van services.