In the spring of 2011, construction on the new residence hall will begin. Lots J and F are going to be taken out to make room for the three new buildings.

These three buildings will consist of two residence halls and a cyber cafe.

Building Services will not be replacing either of the lots, said Jeff Daurer, director of Capital Budget and Planning. Lot X is more than three times the size of J, holding 581 cars, and is never full. Lot X has parking available for permit colors orange, blue and yellow.

Due to the fact that no new parking accommodations will be added to make up for the loss of this lot, there will be no costs associated with it.

When the construction is finished, there will be a well-lit bridge going over the creek on the north end of lot J, connecting the new halls to lots O and X.

“The pathway to these parking lots will be well lit with ‘Q-Tip’ lights, making it safer and more convenient for students to get to their cars,” Daurer said.

There were 1,510 orange parking permits purchased so far this year, said Kristin Mommsen, director of Parking Services. Besides Lot X, there are seven other parking lots available to orange permits near the residence halls.

According to an Oct. Northern Star article, “Eight parking lots on campus will be ‘expanded, repaired or replaced to enhance parking,'” in addition to the other construction projects the university is taking on. Plans for these lots could not be confirmed yet.

“Cars are very important to our freshman students, there won’t be any reason to take that privilege away from them,” Daurer said. “Lot X is very big and under-used. There is no sense in destroying more green only to pave over it.”

Once construction starts, students will no longer be able to park in Lot J and will have to start using lots O and X. There will be a fence around the construction sight for safety reasons.

Until that time, Lot J is still up and running as an orange permit parking lot.