YEAR IN REVIEW
FAU officials dished 977 more traffic citations on the Boca campus last year than it did the year before.
Over the last two years, new buildings have swallowed up parking lots, and students have grown in number. In fall 2009, frustration over parking reach a new level as two protests were scheduled. With the recent addition of new parking, however, 2010 may prove less frustrating.
Parking lots started disappearing from the Boca campus in January 2008, when construction began on the Forkas Alumni Center and the first phase of the Recreation & Fitness Center. Last year, the campus lost addition parking in March, when the second phase of the Recreation & Fitness Center began, and again in August, when construction started on the Culture and Society Building.
Since then, however, FAU has slowly begun to add parking to help alleviate the situation.
A new parking lot recently added to the southeast corner of the Boca campus, near the Culture and Society Building, is expected to open soon.
On other campuses, the opening of a new garage in August eased parking frustrations on the Davie campus, which is FAU’s second largest.
“Since enrollments are very high and parking has been maxed out for years, it has made a huge difference in a student’s ability to find a spot and get to class on time,” Phyllis Bebko, assistant vice president of the Broward campuses, explained about the new garage. “People used to circle and hover like a holiday mall parking lot and now only a few peak times each week require parking in the overflow grass lots. It is a significant improvement.”
The four-story garage added a total of 750 parking spots, which are used by FAU students, faculty, and staff, as well as Broward College students.
In addition to being student-friendly, the garage is also environmentally friendly.
Combining natural and artificial light, it was built to energy-saving standards, according to Vince Cuchiella, associate director of the Division of Facilities for the Broward campuses.
[Elizabeth Whitton and Monica Ruiz contributed to the reporting in this story.]
