A parking high rise and a parking lot where Kishwaukee Hall now stands have been added to the wish list of the NIU Parking Committee.

Committee Chairman Robert Bornhuetter appointed a subcommittee to look at the possiblities of a parking garage at their April 5 meeting.

“The ball is starting to roll a little bit” toward getting one or more parking garages at NIU, Bornhuetter said.

He said the subcommittee will look into whether NIU needs parking garages, if the university could afford them, how many would be needed and possible locations.

Bornhuetter said the garages are still being talked about, so no construction timetable has been set.

Dave Pack, committee member and Student Association Mass Transit adviser said a possible solution to parking congestion might be a shuttle bus service similar to one at the University of Iowa.

The University of Iowa shuttle serves perimeter parking lots every five minutes with three buses, and has worked out “very well,” Pack said.

More communication is needed between the parking division and the Mass Transit Board, Pack said.

Bornhuetter said he plans to write a letter to James Harder, NIU vice president of Business and Operations to ask whether the Kishwaukee Hall site could be used for a parking lot.

Next year, unauthorized possession of a parking permit will result in an automatic $50 fine if the parking committee’s regulation change goes into effect. The changes are pending approval of NIU legal counsel.

The current fine is $25, but can be raised or lowered for each case, according to NIU’s Motor Vehicle and Parking Regulations pamplet.

Under current regulations, anyone caught with stolen red permits is automatically sent to both civil and NIU authorities, Bornheuter said. Red permits designate reserved spaces and cost as much as $325.

SA President Huda Scheidelman said sending violators to both NIU and local authorities would be punishing people twice.