The University’s first parking garage will offer students, faculty and staff the opportunity to purchase a $550 permit this January.
Only 400 of the 829 spots available will be open for purchase, said Mike Harris, Director of Parking and Transportation.
The permit guarantees one parking spot in the new garage for the academic year during the weekdays.
The remaining 429 spots are available to anyone on campus, with or without permits, and are being sold by the hour. For these temporary spots, there is a charge of $2 for the first hour of parking and $1 for each additional hour, stopping at a $10 maximum total cost. The system will allow up to 24 hours of parking per vehicle for the total price of $10. Only Visa and MasterCard will be accepted as forms of payment.
Payment will be tracked through cameras and kiosks. When each vehicle enters the garage, a camera takes a picture of its license plate, Harris said. A phone number must be entered in order to proceed through to park. When leaving the garage, levels two and four are equipped with kiosks to pay on foot for temporary parking.
If you use these kiosks, your vehicle must exit the parking garage within the 30-minute time window in order to avoid additional charges. Otherwise, customers may also pay at the drive-up kiosk on the first level in the exit lane. In order to exit the parking facility the same phone number that was used to enter the garage must be typed in again.
On game day weekends during football season, the garage will be under the authority of the Athletics Department starting Friday nights at 9 p.m. until Sunday afternoon. The cost to park is $100 for a single game day pass.
“Game day parking passes are issued based on a priority level determined by the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation,” said Brian Russell, Assistant Director for Game Operations.
Pass holders may begin parking in the Pavilion Garage at 7 a.m. on game days and must have their vehicles removed by a time “to be determined” on Sunday afternoon. Any vehicles that are in the garage without the proper game day credential are subject to be towed.
The parking garage will return to hourly parking at 3 p.m. once basketball games are moved into the Pavilion, and all Pavilion parkers will be asked to move their vehicles by 5 p.m. The garage will not be in use by the Athletics Department for baseball games.
The Pavilion Parking Garage took total of 19 months of construction and $22 million, funded through the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, to complete.
University architect and director of facilities planning Ian Banner said he has several plans for future advancements in parking and transportation on campus. The plan for campus growth consists of more distant parking while improving transportation options so faculty, staff, and students can get around campus effectively without the use of their cars.
“The goal is to make travel on campus easier and more convenient than using a car,” Banner said.
The new plan also includes more surface and multi-level parking structures, as well as safer pedestrian and cycling paths.
