After last semester's heavy rainfall that caused the creek near the Virginia Street Parking Lot to flood, plans were set in motion to prevent such incidents from happening again. This coming spring, plans have been made to convert the Virginia St. lot behind the Longwood Landings apartments into commuter spaces.
In addition to this, the Longwood University Real Estate Foundation will be constructing a new lot next to the Virginia St. lot that will provide parking for residents of the Landings. A contract has already been set between Longwood University and the Longwood University Real Estate Foundation to begin building once the weather begins to warm up.
In an interview, Dr. Tim Pierson, vice president for Student Affairs, explained that the current parking lot would become commuter spots so that way they will not be filled all the time. With the Virginia lot converted to commuter spaces and the construction of a new residential lot next to it, Pierson said an additional 45 spaces would be added for parking.
The decision was based on students having their cars flooded during the heavy rains that occurred in Farmville last semester. "It rarely happens, and then it happens twice within a month of each other," said Pierson.
The lot lies next to Gross Branch creek. The last time the creek got out of its banks was Sept. 27, 2011. More than half of the 50 cars in the lot had to be removed after water and mud filled the cars. Officials responded to the lot around 8:15 a.m. that morning, when most students were still in bed. Last year's scene was reminiscent of three years earlier when rains from Hurricane Hanna caused the creek to overflow.
Dick Bratcher, vice president of Facilities Management and Real Property, was the first to bring up the idea of turning the Virginia St. lot into commuter spots. Together, Bratcher and Executive Director of the Longwood University Real Estate Foundation Ken Copeland, helped move the plan along and set up the new residential lot for the Landings.
"The question was how can we deal with this and how can we mitigate students having their cars flooded" said Pierson. He explained that naturally there is no way to completely stop the lot from being flooded again at this point and time, but by turning the lot into commuter spaces, there is a chance not as many cars will be affected by the water, seeing as they may not be as close to the creek at the time it floods.
Paying for the new lot has yet to be determined by the Real Estate Foundation as well as Longwood University itself. Pierson explained that more than likely the funds to pay for the lot will come out of a specific account set aside for the upkeep and construction of lots on campus.
For example, the fees that Longwood students are charged for parking passes go into this account, and those funds are then used to ensure the parking lots are up to standard while they are also kept safe for student use.
Pierson admitted how all of this will transpire in the future is something that has not been set in stone yet. "They might want the money for first, or it may be leased and be paid off later" said Pierson.
