By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (July 14, 2016) — Construction is moving along at Tarleton State University, and, yes, parking spaces are being added.
The beginning of school was pushed back one week because of unavoidable delays following the March 8 tornado that ripped through parts of Stephenville. The flooding in May, however, did not force officials to further delay the fall semester.
School will begin on August 29, but Harry Battson, Tarleton assistant vice president for marketing and communications, confirms not all students will begin and end the semester in the same living quarters.
With construction still bustling on residence halls dubbed Traditions North and Traditions South – located between Wisdom Gym and Memorial Stadium, south of the recreation center that faces Rome Street – Battson says approximately 300 students will begin the fall semester in Bosque Crossing Apartments.
“We have made arrangements for students who are planning to stay in Traditions. We are putting them into the Bosque Crossing Apartments to start the semester and they will move when the construction on the new residence halls is complete,” Battson said. “All of the students affected have been notified and are aware of the situation.”
The construction north of the recreation center along the west side Rome to the intersection of Frey is for the installation of synthetic turf, which Battson and university creative services coordinator Kurt Mogonye report should be ready when school begins. The turf fields will be utilized by university approved intramural and club sports.
One rumor was the construction at Rome and Frey was for a parking lot. While that is not true, Battson says parking spaces have been added throughout campus. A small lot just west of the Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts and St. Felix Street – immediately south of the new Traditions residence halls and Memorial Stadium – is being expanded, and other lots are also adding spaces.
“We started a parking lot last year in the area near the tennis courts where about 100 spaces are now being added, and there are some other areas where we are adding about 50 new spaces,” Battson said. “In total we are adding about 150 new parking spaces.”
But the most important project as far as alleviating parking stress is taking place at Washington and St. Felix streets, where students will be crossing Washington from the parking lot serving Tarleton Softball Complex and Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
“The major announcement is about TxDOT improving the safety of the street crossing there,” said Battson in reference to a university press release made earlier this week that can be read by clicking here. “That parking lot was not heavily used last year, but we are expecting it to be used much more heavily this year.”
Battson says all the projects are progressing steadily as the fall semester approaches.
“The residence halls and other projects are all continuing to make progress and we are keeping a close eye on it,” Battson said. “We are monitoring everything and putting in additional parking spaces where we have acquired the property to do that.”
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