New Parking for Ottawa Students Amidst Construction

Photo by Brynden Grow

It’s a new school year for Ottawa, and that means the age-old question of “Where am I going to park?” arises again. Over the past few months, the university started construction on the new Braves Athletics Performance Center (BAPC). This construction took over a portion of the existing parking spaces in the middle of campus.

Because of the removal of these spaces, the university needed to double down to add back parking with the influx of students this year. This was done by creating a gravel parking lot to the southwest of Martin Hall. 

The new parking lot on the south side of campus consists of 48 spaces. This aimed to replace the number of spaces being overtaken by the construction of the BAPC. 

Donald Anderson, associate dean of student life, says, “No determination has been made on whether or not it will become a permanent lot.”

With this parking lot and construction of the BAPC eventually being completed, chances for extra parking spaces seem low.

“There aren't any plans for additional parking at this time,” Anderson continues. “Once construction is complete in the Commons parking lot, the addition of the temporary parking space in front of Martin and the parking lot just north of the baseball and softball complex, there seems to be adequate parking for students. I don't think it is an issue of enough parking space; I think it is more of a convenience issue.”

Donald also mentioned that we are getting half of the parking back in the commons lot as early as mid-October. 

Some students had questions about why the new parking lot wasn’t finished by time school had started. I had wondered if this was a last minute decision or not. Anderson assured me it wasn’t. 

“The decision to add the additional parking lot north of Martin was made in the summer. Ideally, this would have been completed before students returned to campus. We had a few delays in receiving permits from the City of Ottawa, which didn’t allow it to be completed in time,” he says.

If you have any questions regarding parking and where to and not to park, refer to your student emails and check for the few send-outs concerning the subject.