After patiently waiting many months, the students and staff of PV are ready for a change in parking. As construction crews began to make way for a large expansion to the east side of the high school, both students and teachers would be losing parking spaces.
Students who regularly parked in the “A Lot” were forced to park in farther lots such as the “lower lot” or Scott Community College parking. The “B Lot”, which was regularly used by students and teachers, was then designated to serve only as staff parking.
For the first couple of weeks after this change, parking was something close to chaos. Students began to find alternatives to parking at Scott, by parking in nearby neighborhoods and walking from there. This caused administration to strongly encourage against parking in residential areas.
Senior Will Mercer was a sophomore when the parking was drastically changed. He had relied on driving himself to the school every morning. “I had to park at a family friends house about two blocks away from school and walk the rest of the way.” With the new parking restrictions Mercer had to find alternative ways to park.
Mercer claims that being able to park in the B Lot would’ve made his morning much easier since it is the closest to his locker. Mercer says that he is “yet to decide whether or not” he will park in the new lot due to his classes at Scott Community College.
The fabled “A Lot” is estimated to create 100-120 new parking spaces to be used by either students or PV staff. PVHS principal Mike Zimmer says he is pushing to have the new lot parking ready by the end of the month. “We are hoping to know where we are by October 1.”
The location of staff parking is still unknown; Zimmer recommends to “be ambivalent” while waiting for more updates. With the remaining mystery of staff parking, it is unknown exactly how the new lot will be divided. “There will be student parking in the A Lot, but we don’t know if it will be all students, or partly students”.
A pressing factor that will affect how quickly the construction will be finished is the weather. Due to large amounts of rain, the construction crew has had a few setbacks. The challenge of remaining on schedule will rely on the unpredictable Iowa weather. Students and teachers alike are hoping for clear skies and a parking solution.
