SRSC begins collecting fees for parking

Students will now have to pay to park at the Student Recreational Sports Center.\nThe lots, once zoned for A, C and E permits by Parking Operations, require users to pay a fee depending on length of stay and the use of a parking pass.\nOvernight parking has also been eliminated in the change. Parking Operations turned over the lot to the management of the SRSC Monday.\nDoug Porter, Parking Operations parking manager, explained the reason behind the change of hands.\n"(The SRSC) had a concern with people parking there that may not have been using the SRSC," Porter said. "They'd visit their friends or go to the (Main) Library and weren't in the building. Then when people would come to the SRSC, they'd say 'I want to take my aerobics class ... and I can't get in the parking lot.'"\nThe process now requires people with any type of IU parking pass to take a ticket at the booth when they enter the lot. The ticket is then validated at the turnstiles of the SRSC before leaving. If you are out of the gym within two hours, you pay nothing. However, after two hours you will be charged $1.50 per half hour. To park your car in their lot for the entire day, you must purchase a full-day pass for $13.50, according to SRSC Member Services.\nFor those who do not have a parking pass, you will automatically be charged $1.50 per half hour or $13.50 for the day, bypassing the two-hour rule.\nThese fees and times are only valid within the hours the SRSC remains open -- 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.\nIf your car is parked in the lot after these hours, it will be marked for a ticket.\n"I think it's better," said senior Dan Day, SRSC member services representative. "The fees will eliminate a lot of arguments over spaces."\nSophomore Mark Sinsko said the change won't really affect him.\n"It's good because at least you can park there for two hours," he said. "I'm not usually there longer than that."\nBut sophomore Jon Jutte said he finds the new ticket charge unnecessary, considering students are already paying more for tuition and housing.\nWhile student reactions are mixed, the SRSC surveyed over 800 students, and over 90 percent said they wouldn't be affected because they didn't stay past the two hours anyway, Day said.\n-- Contact staff writer Jackie Walker at jaclwalk@indiana.edu.