Lot R12 is closed until August for construction in the Commons

The parking lot next to the Tyler Haynes Commons, which is usually reserved for faculty, staff and Student Activities vans, has closed to create space for construction.

Lot R12 will provide a staging area for contractors to fix the building's roof, Charles Rogers, director of design and construction said. The roof covering, as well as the shingles, which he said had not been worked on since the THC was built and are no longer useful, will be replaced. The contractors will also repair the heating and air conditioning systems, he said.

The building will remain operational throughout construction, which he said had been planned to begin on April 15.

Since the lot closed on Saturday, March 30, the vans have been moved to W41 off of UR Drive, Natalia Green, director of parking services said. Faculty and staff who parked in R12 now park in other designated lots, such as R10 and R11, Rogers said.

This change will also affect students, who had been allowed to park in the lot from 5 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.

Because of the limited number of parking spots in front of the library, senior Lizzie Ruggieri said that she had usually parked in R12 when going to do work at night. Since the lot has been closed, she has had to walk longer distances between the library and her car, which she said that she had always tried to avoid at night.

"It's really inconvenient," Ruggieri said. "Especially with finals and the surplus of school work everyone has at the end of the semester."

Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, said that he had not been too concerned with overflow problems, especially because most of the work will be done over the summer when fewer people are on campus.

R12 is scheduled to open around August or September, depending on when the renovations are completed, which is also subject to weather, Andrew McBride, assistant vice president for facilities and university architecture said.