Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, first-year students will now be required to park near the Francis Center. A new 500-spot remote parking lot will open up around 450 parking spots within the main part of campus, accommodating upperclassmen parking, according to Elon University Chief of Campus Safety and Police, Joseph LeMire. The Elon Express and E-Rides will be available to transport students who park in this parking lot near the Francis Center back to the main part of campus, according to LeMire.
The walk for students to the central part of campus will be approximately 20 minutes from the lot.
LeMire approached the university to incorporate this new parking lot in lieu of the construction of the Health EU building which will impact some of the current parking. Around 120 parking spaces in the Innovation Lot will be removed due to the new development, according to LeMire.
“We were one the few schools that allow first-year residential students to park on campus,” said LeMire. “So I approached the university and we talked about a different lot for that.”
The price of a parking permit which is $100 for the Global neighborhood and $225 for all other neighborhoods will not change due to this new lot opening in the fall 2025 semester. At the start of the fall 2024 semester, this price increased from $50 to $100 for the Global neighborhood and $160 to $200 for all other neighborhoods.
The current parking accommodations of nursing and health science students will not be impacted according to Lemire. LeMire said the parking lot east of the Francis Center will not be affected by the new lot which will be northeast of the building.
Parking for upperclassmen students in the heart of campus will now have increased accessibility, according to LeMire.
“We’re going to add about 400 spots, 450 spots of flexibility. So there’s a net gain of about 350 spots,” LeMire said. “The change, I think, and what I’m hoping to see is some flexibility and accessibility by people to get around.”
This development will address various complaints from students who are involved in sports, internships, jobs and students who arrive throughout the day who cannot find adequate parking.
Freshman SGA senator Olivia Glover, who learned about the development during a SGA meeting, supports the addition of this lot.
“I think it’s for the best,” Glover said. “It will be a bit tough for freshmen, especially those who have cars, but a lot of the time freshmen don’t use their cars because they live on campus.”
Freshman Savannah Hameed said she looks forward to the increase in parking spots which will be available next school year.
“Being a sophomore next year, I think I’m going to enjoy it a lot because I’m living in Global and a lot of the parking right now is basically taken up by freshmen,” Hameed said. “As a sophomore, I’ll have more freedom to park my car in the global parking lot.”
Anjolina Fantaroni contributed to the reporting of this story.