Parking lot, athletic fields part of UAFS expansion

story and photo submitted by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith

The availability of a number of new parking spots at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is the first step in a facilities upgrade on the east side of the UAFS campus.

The project — a parking expansion and an athletic field — is not slated for completion until late November, but Oct. 11 saw the opening of a portion of the parking spaces. Cost of the project, which is slated for a Nov. 25 completion, is $2,287,000. Designer is Morrison Shipley Engineers, with Flintco Constructive Solutions as contractor.

Dr. Kyle Parker of Fort Smith, vice chancellor for planning and technology, said the project has more significance beyond the obvious though. He said it signals another notch in progress for UAFS.

"With the support of this region, UA Fort Smith continues to have record growth," said Parker. "With that record growth, we have to continue to build the infrastructure to keep up with the demand."

Parker said the new parking lot and soccer field will not only increase parking by 10%, bringing the total number of parking spaces to 3,500, but it will also give UAFS students something else.

"This will also allow our students to have additional green spaces to conduct sports and intramural activities," said Parker. "Part of student life on a university campus is the ability to get out and interact with other students, and the new field will allow those activities to take place."

The approximately 165 new spaces that have just become available are for daytime use only, since lights have not been installed yet. The spaces make up less than half of what the project will include upon completion, according to Danny Cowart of Sallisaw, interim director of plant operations.

"Once the project is completed, the total number of new parking slots will be 382," said Cowart. "Two of those are handicapped access and two are van handicapped access."

He said the entrances to the first-available spots in the new lot are on Alabama and Waldron.

"When the full lot is open, there will be an additional entry on Kinkead," Cowart said.

Overseeing much of the project from the UAFS campus is assistant plant operations director Larry Young of Rogers. Young recently came to UAFS from a position with TME Inc., a group of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire systems designers.

Cowart said Young will work with all of the construction and renovation projects on campus and will also have oversight of UAFS’s maintenance.

Young is quick to talk about the features of the parking addition and the athletic field, describing the lighted field as regulation- size for soccer, but added that there are even more aspects to the project.

"The overall site is proposed to include 32 different species of plants and more than 3,000 plants," said Young. "Also included in the site will be two rain gardens and waterfalls."

The project called for several trees to be removed, but even that was done with a tree preservation plan, saving as many trees as possible. In addition, a local sawmill harvested the removed trees so that the lumber could have future use on campus. Utilizing the removed trees in a secondary way provides a resource for UAFS, one that will hold sentimental value when furniture, plaques and other memorabilia are made from the harvested lumber.