Gary Moskowitz
Glendale Community College's board of trustees has unanimously
approved a proposal for a three-level parking structure that will
provide about 600 additional parking spaces for students and faculty.
Construction of the parking garage could begin in October and
would take 10 to 12 months to complete.
The 890-car garage will be built in the upper college parking lot
on top of 290 existing spaces. The garage will cost about $12 million
to build, and will be paid for entirely by Measure G bond money,
Executive Vice President for Administration Larry Serot said.
"We need to get going on this," Serot said. "This is one of our
big issues."
The college presently has about 1,970 parking spaces. Enrollment
was at 17,300 students this fall, and 6,717 are enrolled in the
winter semester. Roughly 13,000 have registered for spring semester.
Enrollment has been on the rise for several years to the tune of
about 300 more students each year, Serot said.
"We needed a short-term solution, and this is it," Serot said.
The garage is part of a $19-million, two-phase project that will
eventually include elevator service from the garage to a new
student-services building, to be constructed below the college's
upper parking lot. The second phase also would include the addition
of 400 parking spaces.
The board approved a $667,000 design contract with International
Parking Design on Monday. The company will submit designs for the
garage by April or May, Serot said.
The college's Parking Task Force in the past year looked at about
15 options for adding parking to the college.
Among them was acquiring land just north of campus now occupied by
apartment buildings, and building an underground parking structure
underneath the soccer fields. Those and other ideas were scratched
because of cost or the possibility of adding to traffic congestion,
task force member Charles Mason said.
Mason became involved with the search for additional parking after
he saw a little girl hit by a car in front of the college about eight
years ago.
"I live in this community, and for years I kept thinking, this is
a real mess," Mason said. "I travel Verdugo [Road] and Mountain
[Street] just about every day of my life. Neighbors are very
concerned about traffic flow here, and so is the college.
"I'm for what they're going to do up there. The college is making
every effort [it] can, and spending a lot of money to do it."
Student government President Antonino Patti thinks the parking
structure will help students immensely.
"More students will get to class on time," Patti said. "That
elevator will make things a lot easier for students. Usually after
class, students are tired, and the last thing you want to do is climb
all those stairs. I'm just glad the community supported us with the
[Measure G] bond to help us with this."
