Editor’s Note: This story was updated with a statement from FAU spokesperson Jonathan Fraysure.

For the first nine days of the fall semester, parking on campus was how it always was — relatively easy. Then FAU closed a parking garage. 

On Sept. 1, students, faculty and staff returned to campus and ran into the same struggle: finding parking in a reasonable amount of time. It was much more crowded, and nobody knew why. 

Florida Atlantic University decided to complete a construction and renovation project on Parking Garage 2, forcing its closure on Sept. 1 for the rest of the fall 2023 semester. University Press reporters cannot find out from FAU what kind of construction is being done.

The university announced via MyFAU on Aug. 18 that the first floor of the garage will remain open, but the rest will be closed for “construction and renovation” until Dec. 15. 

The garage is undergoing preventative maintenance that is required every couple of years, FAU spokesperson Jonathan Fraysure wrote in an email to the UP on Oct. 6.

“FAU is accommodating those parking in the lots surrounding Parking Garage 2 by only citing for no valid permit violations,” Fraysure wrote in an email to the UP.

The FAU Major and Minor Project Status Reports, which outline construction projects within the university, do not contain any information about the ongoing construction of Parking Garage 2 or if any work has begun at all. 

On Sept. 11, the UP requested the garage’s inspections and construction plans to determine why the university undertook such a major project as the largest freshman class in university history began their schooling.

FAU Public Records Specialist Rachelle Hollingsworth responded to that request on Sept. 13, writing “Per the custodian of records, parking garage II is closed due to structural construction repair. There are no other responsive documents or information.”

The UP submitted subsequent public records requests for information regarding the number of parking spots in Parking Garage 2 and how many parking spots are on the Boca Raton campus. These requests remain unfulfilled. 

“Media Relations takes a proactive role in disseminating news, features and story ideas to the local, national and international media,” FAU’s media relations website says. “Additionally, Media Relations is responsible for reviewing and coordinating all press releases and news relayed to internal and external audiences. Media Relations also monitors University media coverage and maintains historical clippings of University news.”

SG President Dalia Calvillo encoraged students to utilize SG’s parking forgiveness citation program, where students donate items to SG in exchange for them paying the parking ticket.

“Student Government partners with our FAU Parking & Transportation Department to offer students our Parking Citation Forgiveness Program. This program allows us to help students with financial relief (up to $25!) on a parking citation,” Calvillo wrote in an email to the UP.

FAU Parking and Transportation Services staff sent UP reporters to FAU spokesperson Joshua Glanzer, who did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication. FAU Facilities Management staff did not respond to multiple requests for comment by the time of publication. 

Jessica Abramsky is the Editor-in-Chief of the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach Jessica at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @jessabramsky.