New Anderson Parking Facility is now open

Here's an artist's view of Anderson Parking Facility. See how it looks, and park in it, today. Parking in the ramp is free during February.

New Anderson Parking Facility is now open

The University of St. Thomas' new Anderson Parking Facility officially opened at 6 a.m. today, Feb. 16. The additional spaces will make it significantly easier to find a parking spot on the university's St. Paul campus.

Parking in the ramp, located on south campus near the intersection of Grand and Cretin avenues, will be free of charge throughout February. No parking permit will be required.

"Free parking is a way of saying thank you to members of the St. Thomas community for their patience and understanding throughout the ramp construction," said Dan Meuwissen, director of Pubic Safety.

For the remainder of the semester – March, April and May – an Anderson Parking Facility permit can be purchased for $35. Also, all commuter and faculty-staff permits will be valid in the ramp throughout spring semester. Overnight, hourly and visitor parking will not be available in the ramp during spring semester.

The Anderson Parking Facility permit, which allows parking in the ramp only, can be purchased at the Parking Services office at Grand Avenue and Finn Street. The permits will go on sale Monday, Feb. 23.

About 400 spaces will be available when the five-level ramp opens on Monday. The remaining 325 spaces in the ramp will not be available until April because painting and finishing work on some of the levels will require warmer weather to complete.

Crews from Ryan Companies, the architect and contractor for the 725-car ramp, began work last May. Some surface-level parking spots were lost temporarily because they were used as part of the construction staging area or because they were used by construction workers.

The ramp is named for Lee and Penny Anderson, who made a $60 million gift to the university for construction of a new student center, the ramp and improvements to athletic and recreational facilities. Lee Anderson is on the St. Thomas Board of Trustees.

The $15 million ramp on south campus will allow the university to eventually close the 400-car parking lot at Summit and Cretin. The lot is on the site of a proposed new student center.