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By Kevin Sotelo
By Kevin Sotelo
Balls will be bouncing atop the new four story parking structure come Nov. 7, which is the scheduled grand opening, according to Jim Parsons, associate vice chancellor of Public Affairs and Institutional Advancement at Riverside City College.
Construction has come a long way since the approval of Measure C in 2004, which is responsible for all the recent upgrades to RCC. The bond allows the school to pay for renovations, upgrades and additions to the campus that the state will not fund. The measure provides $350 million that the school has chosen to use to renovate the Wheelock Stadium, the Nursing, Music, and Science buildings as well as to modernize the A.G. Paul Quadrangle.
The new, four-level parking structure will provide an influx of 1,113 parking spaces.
Eight brand new tennis courts will be perched on the top of the new parking structure for use by RCC players and the public, as well. The top level will be accessible by car, as well as on foot, with two elevators and emergency stairways. The courts are to be equipped with 12 to 13 foot high fences along the perimeter, which is about the same as any regulation tennis court.
Also, five brand new handball courts are to be installed on the embankment off of Magnolia, at the base of the parking structure, adjacent to the tunnel leading from the lower campus to the Evans Park Sports Complex. With the extra foot traffic provided by the parking structure, the handball courts will surely receive more attention, and possibly more action than they did in their prior position. They will be available to students, as well as the general public.
As for accessing the parking structure, there will be two ways in and two ways out for motor vehicles. Traffic will be able to go in and out from Lot Y, otherwise, the entrance will be on Terracina, and will exit onto Magnolia.
The structure is to be locked overnight, protecting any cars that have been left overnight for sporting events or other school related activities. Exact times have yet to be confirmed, but college officials will try to make things run as smoothly as possible for everyone involved.
Of course, with such a large addition to the campus, security measures have been stepped up. Lee Wagner, chief of College Safety and Police, ensures top-notch security round the clock. Not only will there be 24-hour video surveillance, which will be monitored constantly at the security office on the top level and at the dispatch center, emergency phones will be placed throughout. Police will incorporate frequent patrols of the area into their routes, making the area as secure as possible.
