For almost a month Florida A&M’s 12-year-old, three-story parking garage has had the top level blocked off, causing students to alter their parking habits.
“We are anticipating an inspection. There is a hole in the concrete which is probably the result of wear and deterioration,” said John Kirby, assistant parking director of the department of public safety.
Shaniqua McNeil 23-year-old graduating nursing student is very concerned about the current parking arrangements and dislikes the effects it has on day-to-day campus activities.
“It makes me late to classes because you have to find other parking. And there’s already limited parking on campus. Sometimes you have to parking in the yellow and take the risk of getting a ticket because there’s no parking,” said McNeil.
Warnings of structural issues are evident according to Kirby.
“There are sounds and vibrations that have also been recognized on the third floor which should not be there,” Kirby said, specifying findings and preventive measures. To take precautionary measures the upper levels have been tapped off until further notice.
“If there’s a hole in the structure it makes me think, [are] there any other problems with the rest of the parking garage,” said McNeil. “When there are any parts on a structure that isn’t good, there are normally other parts messed up too. So if the top falls, I’m sure it’s going to affect the bottom too. That’s a safety concern for me, but I still park there because there’s nowhere else to park.”
Maurice Noissette, a 21-year-old architecture student from Charleston, S.C., doesn’t park in the garage but has fallen victim to the lack of parking. “Now that the garage is not being used to its fullest potential, student are resorting to lots that they normally wouldn’t use. And that’s taking up the spots that I would normally use and I park on the other side of campus off Osceola.”
Despite student’s growing concern with parking, officials of the facilities planning & construction office could not be reached for comment about the garage’s current state of deterioration.
It is unclear how soon students can expect the garage to be a safe place to park their vehicles.