The long-awaiting parking garage at Marshall University opens for use when classes begin Monday, Aug. 27.
The new garage is the most noticeable of several changes made to campus over the summer.
The $7 million, six-story parking facility located on Sixth Avenue next to the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center 411 spaces and two elevators. Payment will be 50 cents an hour for employees, students and guests. Employees also have the choice of paying a flat fee of $40 a month.
About 40 metered spaces from the surface lot used for staging the garage project will be available as well.
"This new parking facility will help commuter students and guests on campus," Jim Terry, Marshall's director of public safety, said in a news release. "We are looking forward to implementing this kind of operation for the first time on our campus. We think a lot of people will take advantage of these new spaces."
Terry said the entrance to the garage Monday, Aug. 27, through Wednesday, Aug. 29, will be off John Marshall Drive and 5 ½ Alley. Beginning on Thursday, the 30th, the main entrance on 6th Avenue will be open.
All that week, Aug. 27-31, parking in the new facility will be free. Prices go into effect after Labor Day. The garage will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. each Monday through Friday, with no overnight parking. It will be closed on weekends, although that could change depending on demand.
The facility is brightly lit and energy efficient and has 50 cameras and 12 emergency phones. It is one of many projects at various levels completed this summer – some on campus, some off – by Marshall University. Some of the major ones include:
Extensive renovations to the Robert W. Coon Education Building at the Huntington VA Medical Center in Spring Valley, now the home of Marshall's School of Pharmacy. The $8.9 million overhaul resulted in a cutting-edge, technology-enabled learning environment and research facility.
Abatement and demolition of Memorial Field House on Fifth Avenue to make room for a new soccer complex, which will open in 2013. Cost was $616,000. Marshall's men's team will play most of its home matches this fall in Charleston and Hurricane, while the women will play home matches at Cabell Midland, Huntington and Hurricane high schools.
Renovations of 40 classrooms in Corbly, Harris and Smith halls on the Huntington campus. Technology upgrades were made, new furniture, white boards and podiums were purchased, and many rooms were painted and received electrical upgrades. Total cost was $442,000.
Installation of a new sound system at Cam Henderson Center, home of Marshall men's and women's basketball and volleyball. The system, installed by Newtech Systems Inc. from Ashland, Ky., for $405,000, is an improvement to the old one and is audible in all areas of the arena. Also, alterations to the air ventilation system will make the arena more comfortable.
Replacement of multiple rooftop air handling units and other work, such as replacing multiple exhaust fans, at the Twin Towers residence halls for $741,000.
HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) renovations at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center for $1,537,000.
Lobby renovations at the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing in downtown Huntington for $165,000.
Various concrete replacement projects at Joan C. Edwards Stadium for $37,000.
Numerous other summer projects – some large, some small – were completed, such as replacing the sidewalk at Gullickson Hall for $26,500 and converting the former auditorium on the second floor of Old Main to office space for $240,000.
Many landscaping projects were completed during the summer, and repairs and upgrades were made in many buildings. In Jenkins Hall, Room 101 was painted and received new carpeting. In Corbly Hall, automatic doors were replaced. In Old Main, central heat and air conditioning were added in three rooms on the third floor. In Henderson Center, old lights were replaced in the concourse. Trees were removed near Corbly Hall. Off campus, the site of the 1970 Marshall plane crash in Kenova was spruced up.
Also, Marshall's residence halls received an upgrade in wireless connectivity, HVAC units and carbon monoxide detectors.
A major and required project was the installation of the carbon monoxide detectors in all residence halls that use gas. Holderby Hall received 15 detectors, Twin Towers East 31, Twin Towers West 31, Buskirk Hall nine, First Year Residence Hall North 11 and First Year Residence Hall South 11. Total cost of this project was more than $61,000.
The John Marshall Dining Room in the Memorial Student Center underwent a $125,000 renovation this summer. Among the improvements are new flooring, upholstery, countertops, equipment and cabinets.
New vertical banners now hang from the front of the Joseph M. Gillette Welcome Center on the corner of 5th Avenue and Hal Greer Boulevard. The green and white Welcome Center banners are highly visible to traffic from all directions approaching the intersection.
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