Parking lot closings to start this month

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MSU’s parking situation is going to get a little more crowded as spring construction projects near Berkey Hall and Brody Complex commence.

Lot 3 near Berkey Hall and Lot 65 near Brody Complex are expected to begin closing in the coming weeks for various projects, said Robert Nestle, university engineer for the MSU Physical Plant Division.

The lot behind Berkey Hall is slated to permanently close in the beginning of March. It will be used by the contractor hired to build the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Nestle said. Groundbreaking for the museum is expected to take place in March. Plans call for the lot to become a pedestrian plaza for the museum, Nestle said.

Parking lot closures around Brody will begin at the end of this month, he said.

“Part of the circle drive in Brody near Armstrong Hall is going to be closed for utility construction work near the end of February,” Nestle said. “About the time that is (finished) at the start of May, Emmons Hall construction will shut down another part of the loop around Brody.”

Nestle said construction for Emmons Hall will run until summer 2011 and the project costs about $14 million.

A number of the spaces at Berkey Hall are leased from the MSU Police Department, Nestle said. He said he didn’t know where those spots would be relocated, but it would probably be the nearest nonleased spaces.

The MSU Police Department could not be reached for comment Monday.

“People are going to have to change their routines,” Nestle said. “But in both cases, there are a comparatively small number of parking spaces being taken out of commission, so we don’t expect any long-term repercussions.”

For John Stone, an associate director and senior research scientist at the Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards at MSU, the loss of the Berkey Hall lot isn’t a huge concern.

“The sense I get is that people have just resigned themselves to it,” Stone said. “Even when there are not a lot of folks parked here, there’s not really a lot of parking available.”

Stone said his experience of “maybe you find a spot, maybe you don’t” was typical of people who had not purchased reserve spots. He said he parks in the Grand River Avenue ramp.

“I’d say once every two weeks I am able to land a spot,” Stone said. “These are some of the best spots you can buy.”

Criminal justice senior Stephanie Piette said the effect on her wouldn’t be too severe — she has a class in Berkey Hall on Mondays — but the lack of parking could hurt staff on campus.

“I think it will definitely be a loss,” Piette said. “There’s a lot of parking for staff on campus, but there isn’t nearly enough.”

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