Though Arps Garage reopened before Fall Semester, the $3M renovation project is not yet complete. Credit: Ritika Shah / Asst. photo editor
Arps Garage may be open for Fall Semester, but there’s still work to be done.
Construction on the garage, which is being handled by CampusParcand started May 20, includes structure repairs to floors and stairways, improved drainage, new waterproofing and a new lighting system, according to the CampusParc website.
The cost of the project is nearly $3 million, CampusParc spokesman David Hoover said in an email.
Hoover said there has been a “small slip in the schedule that has resulted in the present two-way traffic on internal ramps,” but said the issue is expected to be resolved by Sept. 1.
The garage “reopened in time for Autumn Semester,” Hoover said, but he added that “partial space closures will continue through end of project, with the possibility of very short term garage closures during semester breaks.”
Kelly Marceau, a graduate student in social work who has most of her classes in Stillman Hall, across the street fromArps Garage, said she hasn’t had any difficulties related to the construction.
“It’s small right now. I feel like there aren’t that many parking spots, however this is only my second day parking,”Marceau said. “I was able to find spots both times so I was really impressed with that but I feel like it’s going to get more and more busy.”
She said she took classes during May Session, but because she lived near her class at the time, she walked and didn’t have to commute.
Tyler Geise, a second-year in mechanical engineering, said he hasn’t had any issues either, even though he cuts through the area to get to his classes.
“If you come from this way going that way, you tend to walk straight up this path and realize at the end it says ‘No pedestrians.’ It’s not really well marked. I did that a couple times but other than that, it’s nothing too bad,” Geise said. “You get used to it.”
For some students, however, the renovation has caused inconveniences.
“For me, it kind of gets in the way of heading directly to High Street,” said Natasha Coldiron, a fourth-year in art. She added, though, that her commute is “about the same.”
There is also a new access area on the south side of the garage that “connect(s) to the 18th Avenue extension” that is part of the East Regional Chilled Water Plant, according to the website.
The water plant project was started July 24, 2012, and is expected to be completed in late August 2014. It aims to provide chilled water for the new Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry Building and to eventually serve other academic buildings in the Academic Core North area, according to an OSU Facilities Operations and Development document.
The Arps Garage project is adding “Pay-on-Foot” technology as well so that those parking in Arps Garage can pay faster, which should aid with “virtually eliminating rush hour backup,” according to the website.
Pay-on-Foot is a process where anyone who parks in the garage can pay their exit fee from their ticket at a station located within the parking garage before returning to their car, rather than pay from their vehicle as they exit in it.
Chelsea Spears contributed to this article.
