Work Set to Begin on New Parking Lot, Demolition of Highland Hall

August 1, 2019

Two construction projects related to Western’s new residence hall are scheduled to begin next week, Aug. 5.

The new residence hall will be sited where Highland Hall and Highland Lounge currently are located, and will extend north toward College Hall. The Highland buildings will be demolished, with that work starting next week.

In addition, the new residence hall construction project will take the adjacent parking lot 14G offline through most of the project duration.

Next week, the contractor will start work on constructing a new displacement parking lot south of Science Lecture and west of Morse Hall in the grass field (Carver Field).

The two upcoming construction projects are:

  • Construction of the displacement parking for Lot 14G will involve grading and paving of the Carver Field and creating approximately 127 parking spaces.  Work will start next week, including mobilizing and installing construction fencing around the construction site.  Work on the replacement field will continue until mid-September.  The new displacement parking lot is scheduled to open starting in September with the start of fall quarter. 
  • The demolition of Highland hall and Highland Lounge. Work this summer will include: salvage of equipment by WWU Facilities Management and other staff; abatement of hazardous materials; demolishing of the existing structures; removal of selected trees and plants, and grading for the new residence hall building. Western officials are exploring the potential reuse of removed trees to enhance salmon stream habitat.

As a result of the construction work, there will be changes in parking, as outlined below:

Lot 14G timeline:

  • Monday, Aug. 5 – The uppermost section of lot 14G (the portion of the lot on the north side of Highland Lounge) will no longer be available as the contactors will begin demolition of the Highland complex.  The remaining areas of lot 14G will remain available.
  • Sept. 24 – The remaining sections of lot 14G will be offline.  At this point the entire lot will be unavailable.

Replacement lot (Carver Field; former grass field west of Morse Hall):

  • Sept. 24 – The replacement lot is scheduled to be completed at this time.  The lot will be built concurrently with the demolition of the Highland complex.

Alternate parking options for visitors:

Summer 2019 – Visitor parking will remain available in lot 14G through Sept. 24 in all areas of the lot except the section closest to Highland Lounge.  This will accommodate all summer events without needing to redirect event goers to new parking areas.
After summer 2019 – Once the remainder of lot 14G has been closed, there are two primary alternatives for evening visitor parking: 

  • Lot 7G – Located on the corner of High and Oak streets, this lot offers the same visitor parking options as lot 14G.  The lot requires permits at all times and the pay station in the lot allows for visitor parking at $1/hour after 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday.
  • Lot 6V – Located off of North Garden Street below the Viking Union, this lot offers visitor parking all hours.  The lot requires permits at all times and the pay station in the lot has available visitor parking at $2/hour from 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and visitor parking available at $1/hour during all other hours.

Parking information and parking map are available at the Parking Services website.

For more information on the new residence hall please see the project webpage at the Office of Facilities Development & Capital Budget or the project webpage at University Residences.