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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.03.2008
You can find parking garages Downtown, at the airport and at the main library.
And, soon, you might add Tucson High Magnet School to the list.
Construction is expected to begin late spring on a new parking garage, part of a $235 million laundry list of projects voters approved in a 2004 bond election for the Tucson Unified School District.
The garage was touted as a much-needed fix for the school's parking woes, although there now is some concern that the remedy may now be too little and, at $3 million, too costly.
Tucson High, at North Euclid Avenue and East Sixth Street, has about 2,600 students — more by a long shot than any of the district's other high schools.
It also sits on a landlocked 27 acres, smaller than other TUSD high school complexes, which average 40 acres.
The proximity to the University of Arizona, Roskruge Bilingual Middle Magnet & Elementary School and North Fourth Avenue — all big traffic draws in their own right — exacerbates the situation.
It all spells insufficient parking, which is bad news for neighbors. An aerial photo of the area during the school year shows overflow parking along the perimeter of the school bleeding into the surrounding neighborhoods.
When the garage was initially envisioned, Tucson High had only about 100 parking spaces.
By the time the faculty was accommodated, only a small number of students were able to park at school, and had to win a lottery for the privilege. At that time, the garage was slated as a 300-space project.
Since then, parking has been cobbled together to provide a total of about 400 spaces, in a series of small lots and in angled parking spots around the pe-rimeter. Parking spaces for students are doled out only to seniors and on a first-come, first-served basis.
The garage is now planned as another level on an existing school lot. Although the final design is not complete — which is why no construction work is being done this summer — preliminary workups show the structure could add about 75 spaces.
The structure is believed to be the first parking garage for an area high school.
"It's not a perfect situation," acknowledged Jeff DiGregorio, president of the Iron Horse Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood is immediately south of Tucson High.
"We know that the cost is rather inordinate for the number of parking spaces it will achieve. However, our tiny neighborhood has very little parking as it is, and it's in high demand. Even 40, 50, 60 spaces would help."
DiGregorio said he's grateful that the school and district have worked closely with neighbors to mitigate impact, particularly with the design and placement.
The garage will sit on the south end of the campus, in a relatively obscure location that won't be an eyesore for neighbors.
DiGregorio praised the attention to aesthetics. "That area faces our neighborhood's homes on Eighth Street. You can imagine looking out your living room window to see a parking structure."
But some question whether the relatively small bump in capacity is worth the price tag.
"That's a lot of money," said John O'Dowd, an attorney and Tucson High graduate whose children also attended the school.
Aside from the cost-per-space problem, O'Dowd said he has a number of other concerns with the project, starting with a wish for a greater focus on alternative transportation.
He also is concerned there are other pressing capital needs at the aging school. And given the cramped campus, he'd rather see off-site parking explored.
"University professors don't get to park right next to their buildings. We're not talking about an extreme strain," he said.
Marcus Jones, the director of bonds for TUSD, said construction costs are higher than they were in 2004 and the cost of asphalt has tripled.
He said it took this long to get the project off the ground because a feasibility study of the campus first had to be completed, given that it's also one of five high schools slated to get a new practice gym, and the two structures needed to fit on the same small site.
Tucson High Principal Abel Morado said TUSD needs to deliver on its original promise.
"Given that the community voted for the bond, I kind of half suspect that they voted with the understanding that this parking garage was part of the deal, Morado said.
"It's difficult for me to turn around and say, 'We think differently about it now.' "
He acknowledged the garage will not solve the parking problems at the school, estimating a real fix would take at least 250 more spaces.
"There's two ways of looking at this," Morado said. "One is that 80 more spaces won't make a big dent in the problem. The other way of looking at it is that it's 80 spaces we don't have now."
Morado said he also hopes to reduce demand for parking.
This school year, he vows to put more energy into trying to get people out of their cars altogether so more people will be walking or cycling.
● Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 806-7754 or at rbodfield@azstarnet.com.
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