New structure to ease parking woes

Commuters rejoice! The Institute is gearing up for a new parking lot that will relieve significant congestion at Caltech’s southwest corner. This improvement will provide spaces for hundreds of vehicles just a short walk from the buildings near California Boulevard. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that it will be all but invisible.

That’s because the new parking structure will be placed under the existing north athletic field, which lies southeast of the Keith Spalding Building and is anchored by the Brown and Braun gyms.

“That corner has been the place with the tightest parking situation and the most congestion,” says Gregg Henderson, chief of campus security and parking services, noting that the structure will hold up to 700 cars and will open in the summer of 2004.

It’s common knowledge that finding parking at the corner of California Boulevard and Wilson Avenue is so tight because of the nearby offices and services. Throughout the day, people visit the post office and graphic arts facilities inside Keith Spalding, the two gyms nearby, the tennis courts, and the athletic field. After the occasional earthquake, the area near the Seismology Lab teems with television vans. Compounding that situation, the city has permanently designated the west side of Wilson Avenue for Polytechnic High School use, making that side of the street off-limits to Caltech personnel.

“The new parking structure will alleviate a lot of the parking crush we have on the south end of campus,” says Al Horvath, vice president for business and finance. He estimates the cost for the two-story structure at about $17 million. “The money comes from a bond issue the Institute did this past December,” he says.

“The athletic field will be replaced,”he says, adding that the grassy meadow’s notorious drainage problems will be corrected. Once completed, the only sign that the lot is there will be the ramp leading down to it from California Boulevard.

Athletics and Physical Plant have been working together to mitigate any inconveniences that may arise during construction, set to begin in late summer.

The north athletic field is used for games and practice by Caltech’s intercollegiate baseball and soccer teams and by extracurricular teams and classes, says Mark Harriman, associate athletic director.

“One of the things that has to take place is renovating the track and the field inside of it,” he says of the field located south of Braun Gym. “Part of that renovation plan will allow for an intercollegiate soccer field to be placed inside the track for practice and games.” The athletics department is investigating the possibility of using area baseball diamonds for the team to practice on and for nonconference baseball games.

The parking lot is being built in preparation for the future astrophysics laboratory, to be situated on the site of the parking lot between the Keith Spalding Building and the tennis courts. The lab, Horvath pointed out, is one of the capital campaign’s priorities.

During the parking structure’s construction, the Institute will also begin a new phase of the cogeneration plant’s ongoing renovation with the installation of an underground thermal-energy storage facility. This facility will also be located under the new athletic field.
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