AU breaks ground for parking deck coming in 2025

By Rakiyah Lenon | Editor in chief

Several years and over $30 million dollars in the making, more parking space is coming to Augusta University.

AU broke ground for the new Health Sciences Campus parking deck near 840 Spellman St. on Monday, Jan. 29.

Expected to be completed in the spring of 2025, the parking deck will be located near the Elm and Oak Hall dorms.

“Why do we get so excited about a parking deck?” President Brooks Keel laughed as he welcomed guests to the groundbreaking. “Well, we are incredibly excited about this particular parking deck, I can assure you.”

He added, “It is a sign of our growth and reflection of the commitment that Augusta University is making.”

The beginning of the parking deck’s construction comes as AU continues to see an increase in the number of students enrolling. This past fall, AU reached the 10,500 mark for the first time in its history.

“With that growth comes for the need for new infrastructure,” Keel said. “We need a safe place for them to park, when they come to the Health Sciences Campus, for their work, classes, clinical rotations and other events.”

In addition to the 1,350 parking spaces the deck will provide, electric vehicle charging stations will also be added on the first and second levels.

“This is just the first step of what we hope will be many such,” he said.

Student speaker Destiny Barrett. *(photo by Rakiyah Lenon)*

Destiny Barrett, junior cybersecurity major and communication minor, shared comments on behalf of the student body.

“The new parking deck is something that Augusta University students have been waiting a long time for,” she said.

Barrett said the beginning of construction on the parking deck is a sign that AU is listening to concerns of students and provides hope for reducing the stresses that surround parking on campus.

“It’s a game changer for all of us,” she said.