After nearly a year of delay, work on the parking lot where the Rothwell Student Center formerly stood has begun.

The new lot won’t be just any kind of parking lot though, there will be a lot of different features tied into it to make it sustainable and easy on the eye.

When Lot 11 was eliminated to the construction of the Yellowjacket Union, 225 parking spaces were lost. The new lot where the RSC previously stood will incorporate 220 parking spaces along with motorcycle/moped, handicap-accessible and visitor parking to encourage more people from the public into the Yellowjacket Union for a bite to eat.

There will also plenty of green space, with rows of mature trees planted along the sidewalks, which in time, will become like canopies when in season and budding.  Each tree will have a power outlet run to it, for future electrical plans to be able to be illuminated during special events.

“Instead of putting in typical curbs and storm drain systems, a special red clay drainage, bio-filtration system will be installed,” said Tom Fennessey, Director of Facilities Management.

This system will filter out many impurities through a variety of native plantings, and in turn, the runoff will be less polluted when finally hitting the storm sewers.

Traditional lighting for safety will be skipped, and in place, LED lighting will be used.  It is actually more user efficient and more sustainable than the former lights.

The parking lot was budgeted for $925,000, but the lowest bid came in at $911,820.