St. Thomas community members now share parking spaces with customers of nearby businesses as Lot K on the corner of Cleveland and Grand avenues has new parking restrictions.
Fifteen of the 31 spaces in Lot K are now designated as Davanni’s and Coffee Bené customer parking from 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday.
Junior Kyle Frederick said he is excited for the new parking changes.
“My friends and I go (to Davanni’s) around 6 p.m., and usually their parking lot is full. So any place you can add parking is beneficial since they don’t have much space,” Frederick said. “It’s going to be beneficial for sure.”
But other students, like senior Kaitlin Salter, said she’s concerned that her regular weekend parking spot might be compromised with these changes.
“It’s nice to park in Lot K on weekends when I go to the library,” senior Kaitlin Salter said.
Although these restrictions may present an inconvenience for some students, Lot K was never actually meant to remain a permanent fixture on campus, according to Doug Hennes, vice president for University and Government Relations.
In March 2005, St. Thomas promised the city of St. Paul that by March 2015 there would be a definite plan for turning Lot K into either student housing or green space. The university was given 10 years to either develop a building plan or replace the parking area with grass and landscaping.
With March approaching and no preparation for building in sight, the university worked out a new plan with the city in 2014, according to Hennes.
“We were simply not in a position to put up a building at this time, and until we complete this year’s master planning process, it is premature to make a decision about housing or green space,” Hennes said.
After the university pledged to donate $100,000 to the West Summit Neighborhood Advisory Committee and the Macalester-Groveland Community Council area, St. Thomas was granted a three-year extension to the project in anticipation that the upcoming campus plan will confirm how Lot K will be used.
“St. Thomas has not donated the funds, but it will pay various costs for components of the projects as they come up over the next three years,” said Hennes.
To improve visibility on Summit and Cleveland avenues, $40,000 will go to neighborhood lighting. A donation of $10,000 will go to creating covenants with area homeowners so their homes cannot be sold to someone intending to rent out the property to students. The final $50,000 will go to converting existing rental housing to owner-occupied residences, according to Hennes.
Henes said converting Lot K into a green space would have cost $100,000 anyway.
“We thought it’s silly to spend $100,000 on green space when in three years we might decide we want a building there,” he said.
The university hopes to hold a weekly farmer’s market in Lot K in the summer and to give the 15 spaces to local customers during the three-year extension.
“They had talked to us in the past about parking and we said no, but we thought this would be a nice feature for the neighborhood with the extension of our agreement,” Hennes said.
Whitney Oachs can be reached at oach5325@stthomas.edu.