USM’s Facility Management department submitted tentative plans for the Community Education Facility/Parking Garage to the Planning department in City Hall.
The plans submitted to City Hall call for a new Parking Garage to be built at the Bedford St. Parking lot, which is bordered by Surrenden, Bedford, and Winslow streets.
If the plan is approved in November, construction could begin in early January before spring semester said David Early, executive director of Facilities Management.
Students will lose the majority of the 539 parking spaces at the Bedford Street lot when construction begins.
There will be a temporary parking lot at the site of the demolished Powers House, which should accommodate about 40 cars. This will result in about 175 spaces remaining on the site, said Dewey Ferguson, Parking and Transportation manager of USM.
Officials are planing ways to help alleviate the parking crunch.
There will be satellite parking at the Marginal way lot, which holds approximately 300 cars and is serviced by continuous shuttle busses from 7am-10pm. There will also be shuttle bus service from The Sam’s Club parking lot at Payne Rd. and Rt. 114, said Ferguson.
At the beginning of construction, 15 Surrenden St. will be demolished over Holiday Break. Ground breaking is scheduled to begin before the start of Spring Semester, said Early.
Piles of concrete reinforced steel will need to be driven down to ledge to support the 1150 space garage at the Bedford Street site.
This, “will be done over the winter months when windows tend to be closed to mitigate noise problems”, said Early.
The projected completion date is before the fall semester of 2003, and will result in 1200 parking spaces, including 1150 in the garage and 50 surface spaces adjacent to the garage said Early.
The plan calls for the discontinuation of the upper portion of Surrenden St. This will become the entrance to the garage, which will actually be the second level of the garage. The exit to the garage will be on Winslow St., which will be the ground level of the structure. The ramps will be internal in the center of the garage and the floors will be level, unlike the Maine Medical center Garage where the floors are ramped said Early.
The exterior of the structure will be brick. “Because the structure is very visible, appearance is very important. We’re looking to have a building that we can all be proud of”, said Early.
There will be a focus on the lighting plan for appearance, energy efficiency, user friendliness, and minimal impact on the neighborhood. There will be a landscape buffer to separate the neighborhood from the garage, said Early.
The next project will begin over the summer of 2003, and is scheduled to be completed for the fall semester of 2004. The Community Education Facility, which will include a 500 seat Hannaford lecture hall, offices, classrooms, and a computer lab. The final phase of the project includes a bridge over Bedford St. that will link the garage with the rest of the campus.