Making way for new Health and Learning Center

Campus is starting to see signs of site preparation for the new Health and Learning Center where the Rec Center and Lumberjack stadium currently are located. The first visible indication is the fencing off this week of the affected parking lots (P7A, P28A and P28B).

The parking lots previously were designated for student parking. However, resident student parking permits are now restricted to residence hall lots, so students would not have had access to the affected lots this year.

Jane Kuhn, NAU’s interim chief facilities officer, noted that some additional parking has been made available for Mountain View residents on the east side of the NAU Bookstore and that the closing of the lots does not reduce designated faculty and staff parking areas.

Kuhn said that while site preparation activity does not begin immediately, the university did not want to keep the lots open for a brief period at the start of school and then close them.

Construction on the Health and Learning Center, which is being funded primarily by student fees, could start in September but is contingent upon project review by the legislative Joint Committee on Capital Review.