Every year students, faculty, staff and, not least of all, athletic staff complain about problems caused by the university hosting the Section V football tournament.
We lack the space for our own university community to park once they’ve paid for permits. When the Section V tournament begins you can kiss even that limited parking good-bye.
Some efforts are made to reserve students’ residential parking, but unfortunately, a barrier with a sign and a parking official sitting in a van down the access road between Susan B. Anthony Residence Halls and Towers doesn’t quite cut it.
These people still park wherever they please ignoring the signage and without anyone attempting to ticket them when they park illegally in places that aren’t spots from Library Lot, the concrete median between towers and Intercampus Drive or fire lanes around UR.
But the problems aren’t limited to parking, and neither are they particularly caused by a lack of enforcement by Parking Services.
The $15 tickets that UR can’t enforce unless you want to get a parking permit or graduate aren’t exactly going to stand in the way of someone driving a pickup truck or camper to see their child’s football game.
The problems extend to our roads not being wide enough to handle roughly 5,000 people trying to leave after a game, causing extreme gridlock on our peaceful campus. UR simply does not have the facilities to host a major athletic event of this sort.
Beyond the already outlined parking and road issues, we have a half-stadium that barely fits the people coming to the games.
God forbid they ever discover they could possibly get a meal here before or after the game. I doubt our already long lines in the Pit the Common Ground Cafe could withstand the onslaught they would be in for.
Its not even good public relations between UR and the community. They see a half-stadium, grossly insufficient parking and narrow streets unable to accommodate the invading masses.
Its a nice idea ? invite the area residents to have their football tournament at a university stadium and let them see our beautiful campus and expansive athletic facilities.
There’s just a small problem.
Many high schools have bigger stadiums, more parking and better accessibility than we do. That, and they never actually see our beautiful campus. They don’t visit the Eastman Quadrangle or the inside of Goergen Athletic Center. They see the ugly mid-century architecture of Towers, Sue B and the new stacks of the library. Yay.
Paris can be reached at tparis@campustimes.org.
