Construction on the new Multipurpose Student Center has brought about a tide of change to USF St. Petersburg. But for disabled persons seeking parking spots, there is a ripple effect.
The parking lot with the closest proximity to campus—and the most available disabled parking spots—once occupied the area directly in front of the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.
“Prior to construction, Parking Lot 1 had 49 spots available,” said Bill Benjamin, manager of purchasing and parking services at USF St. Petersburg. “Six of those were disabled spots, two were designated 15-minute loading zones for library patrons returning books, and one spot was reserved for police.”
The remaining 40 spots were for faculty and staff members.
Now that construction is underway, those six disabled parking spots have been eliminated and students and visitors are being redirected to park elsewhere.
“I wish they would have figured out a better way to have closer access to the library than what we have to go through now,” said Robert Beasey.
Beasey, who has cerebral palsy, uses an electric wheelchair to traverse campus. Enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Social Science program, the Palm Harbor resident attends classes several days a week and visits the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library at least twice a week.
The 39-year-old gets a ride to USFSP through Pinellas County’s PSTA D.A.R.T. Program because he is unable to ride the wheelchair accessible PSTA buses.
“I’ve often wondered how the library feels about not having a parking lot and parking spaces for the disabled,” Beasey said.
Before construction, Beasey said his service car was allowed to park in Parking Lot 1. “But once they tore down the lot, all of the spaces were gone,” he said.
He said his service car was then told to park at the Tavern parking (Lot 2) lot instead—about 600 feet from the library.
Benjamin says Parking Lot 2 is the second closest to campus and students with a disabled placard can park in the four available spots.
An alternative is located behind the USGS building at 600 Fourth St. S—Lot 15. Although two disabled spots are guaranteed in the lot, an accessible route to the library along Third Street S is not. For persons with mobility issues, the east side of the street poses a few challenges.
A temporary chain-link fence obstructs a section of the sidewalk on the east side of Third Street S. Coupled with the absence of a sidewalk ramp, persons using wheelchairs have little choice but to take a longer route onto campus.
This would entail parking in the closest available lot, Lot 15 behind the USGS building, crossing the street at the intersection of Third Street S and Sixth Avenue S, and heading east past the Multipurpose Student Center toward Harborwalk and onto campus.
Once construction is completed in fall 2012, Benjamin said sidewalk access would resume.
“Students and visitors with a [visible state-issued] disabled placard are able to park on the street at any city parking meter for free,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin says the Americans with Disabilities Act requires a certain percentage of disabled parking spots be allocated based on the total amount of parking spots. Out of 1,932 available spaces for students to park at the university, 46 are reserved for the disabled.
However, it is unclear whether proximity also plays a role in federal compliance.
Although Benjamin said he believes the Multipurpose Student Center will accommodate “one or two disabled parking spots,” the USFSP Facilities, Planning & Construction office could not confirm by press time whether additional disabled parking spots will be assigned to the student center. Architectural plans available on USFSP’s website did not indicate if disabled parking would be created.
With questions still left unanswered, Beasey ponders a solution. “Perhaps the university should have made an access road for people who want to park closer to the library,” he said.
Photos by Daniel Mutter
