By Grace Malec, Sports Editor
Parking Notice signs posted in the Plymouth Lot – Photo by Grace Malec
On Thursday, April 9, Aquinas Campus Safety sent out a campus-wide email regarding a parking notice for both the Browne lot and Plymouth lot.
The notice for students explained the contract that has been instated between Aquinas and Corewell Health.
According to the contract, Corewell Health employees are allowed to park in the Browne lot in the south end of the parking lot, closest to Robinson Road, Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The employees are also allowed to park in the Plymouth lot, which serves as a main parking location for residential students living in Regina Hall as well as the parking lot for commuters and for those attending performances at Circle Theater. The contract allows the Corewell Health employees to park in three rows at the south end of the lot closest to Robinson Road and the eastern section of the lot, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Map of Aquinas Parking; Browne Lot (Q) & Plymouth Lot (L) Pictured – Photo by Aquinas College
“The new contract with Corewell Health has led to more parking issues and tickets on campus,” Ryan Wendt said. “From what we have been told this contract is only for a few months while construction is happening at Blodgett Hospital, so this should not be an issue when the new school year starts in the fall.”
Students have expressed their frustration about the impact of this contract. “It is crazy that students are getting punished for people who don’t go here to park,” sophomore Jack Jeffreys said.
The notice sent out by Campus Safety explains that they understand students’ frustrations about this contract and any inconvenience it may cause and that they have been working with Corewell Health to ensure that the employees utilizing the Aquinas lots are informed on where and when to park.
“At this current time we are spending our time on those lots ensuring Corewell employees are only using the amount of spaces they are contracted to, no more,” Director of Campus Safety Keith Perry said. “This past week we were giving warnings to them. This coming week we may start ticketing them [Corewell employees]. We are hopeful this past week everyone has gotten into the correct routine going forward.”
This message also served as a reminder from Campus Safety regarding the need for parking permits to park on campus and to make sure students’ are parking in their allotted parking lots.
“We have had officers monitor those parking lots more to make sure that Corewell is not taking up more spaces than the contract allocates,” Wendt said. “This has also led to more tickets being issued for any vehicles that do not have a Corewell Health sticker or be registered within our Aquinas parking system.”
The Saint 