Kaleb Lundine

Chinook Writer

A familiar challenge rears its ugly head “Parking.” Growing demands from both students and faculty have put pressure on the current college’s administration to develop a solution and fix the parking problem for good. 

“The challenge will be to make parking more accessible for students and faculty at the southern campus,” Mitch Masters, director of faculties at CC said. “Our parking —  it’s just not necessarily located where a lot of the classes are taking place, and we were looking at potential solutions.” 

Isaac Agee, a student and dorm resident at Casper College finds the parking situation inadequate. The primary complaints focus on limited parking around specific buildings. 

“Finding a spot to park, whether that be around Liesinger or Strausner hall, has always been a struggle,” Agee said. 

Many people needing to park around those two buildings end up parking on the side of the road or at the nearby Visual Arts building. 

“The solution is we try to get more people on board and utilize the parking that already exists,” Masters stated, pointing to lots of parking located around the Gateway Building that often remains underutilized. 

“Maybe we need to try to change some of the culture on campus. Walking a little bit shouldn’t be the end of the world,” Master’s suggested. 

This philosophy is directly influencing long term planning on campus. With each new building or remodel, the college is now tasked with considering the long-term parking footprint. 

The question then becomes where to add more parking and what qualities may need to be sacrificed for the greater benefit of the people. 

One significant solution many have proposed is the demolition of Wheeler Terrace, which could serve as a significant piece of land for future parking. Masters’ said that this solution is currently being discussed. 

“There have been idea’s that future parking spaces could be utilized at Wheeler,” Masters noted, suggesting that Wheeler could serve as additional parking for the nearby dorms, or the nearby sports fields located to the west of campus. 

However, Masters emphasized that “nothing has been decided 100% on what we’re doing, and the project surrounding Wheeler itself remains in preliminary discussions.” 

Looking ahead, campus staff is planning to install potential upgrades around campus to enhance safety measures when it comes to parking lots. In the future, the college will work to install new LED lighting around the campus parking lots. 

“Definitely it is our goal to have more lighting around campus for safety precautions,” Masters said.

Another modern consideration being discussed is the implementation of electric vehicle charging stations. While the college is currently  without charging stations, Master’s acknowledged that the stations haved been brought up before,  though plans to implement the stations have not been enacted. 

The challenge, as with many parking decisions, is balancing utility with space. 

“It makes sense, right?” Masters said. “But then at the same time it’s like, well, if there’s only two cars utilizing the charging stations, is it worth it taking up 10 spots?”  

For now, the colleges’ approach to parking is one of strategic management rather than major expansion or implementation. The college sees abundant parking space, though it seems much of it is underutilized due to its less than desirable location away from popular classroom spaces. Still the path forward involves integrating parking considerations into new projects, whether that be potentially reclaiming land like the former Wheeler Terrace apartments or encouraging the campus community to utilize the existing, if slightly more distant, parking lots as a viable solution. 

As the campus continues to evolve and grow, so too will the ongoing effort to solve the campus’ parking puzzle.