Evanston Parking Options Presented; Garage Expansion Adds Chicago Spaces

Northwestern officials solicited feedback this week at an open meeting on Evanston campus parking alternatives.

Ronald Nayler, associate vice president for facilities management, presented to students, faculty and staff 10 proposals for sites throughout campus. He highlighted three of the plans, one of which is already under construction and two that are receiving strong consideration.

The new lot in progress will add approximately 200 spaces just east of the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion/Combe Tennis Center. Work will be completed this spring.

The other two proposals call for an underground garage at the Allen Center lot and a garage of as many as eight levels on a portion of the lot just west of the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion/Norris Aquatics Center.

Over the past year, a parking planning advisory committee examined current parking usage on the Evanston campus and reviewed options for increasing the number of parking spaces, said Eugene S. Sunshine, senior vice president for business and finance, who chaired the committee. Once the committee, which included students, faculty and staff, made its recommendations, the campus meeting was called as a final step in the exploratory phase, according to Sunshine.

"The meeting was helpful in that we were able to present these ideas and generate discussion on how to create safe, available parking," he said. "In the coming months, we'll consider all of the information we've gathered and make some decisions about how to proceed."

Erie Garage Addition Adds 967 Spaces

The newly opened addition to the University’s Erie-Ontario Garage (D Lot) has added 967 parking spaces on the Chicago campus.

The 12-story addition to the west side of the existing garage expands parking accommodations for faculty, staff and students with University parking permits as well as the general public. The post-tensioned addition totals more than 300,000 square feet and nearly doubles the capacity of the garage,

The addition, which fronts on Fairbanks Court between East Erie Street and East Ontario Street, was built on the site formerly occupied by a CTA bus turnaround facility and a two-story building. The garage now includes a through-way to provide access for CTA buses to Erie and Ontario. Buses will not pick up or discharge passengers in the garage.

The new facility features 6,600 square feet of ground floor space on Fairbanks that has been leased to First American Bank for retail use.

Other University garages on the Chicago campus are the Huron-St. Clair (C Lot) and 275 East Chestnut (E Lot at Lake Shore Center).

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