The North Central College parking pavilion at dusk, looking west toward Downtown Naperville, with the existing Highland lot in the foreground, Merner Fieldhouse to the left, and New Hall in the distance.

North Central College Parking Pavilion

Addressing the Parking Needs of Our Community

North Central College it set to begin construction of a new parking pavilion on the south end of campus, near the intersection of Brainard Street and Highland Avenue, directly north of Merner Field House.

Project Goals

By constructing a parking pavilion on the south end of campus, the College aims to:

  • Increase the College’s overall on-campus parking capacity
  • Improve parking safety and convenience for students, faculty, staff, and visitors
  • Increase on-campus parking capacity and efficiency for large campus events
  • Address on-street parking concerns within the neighborhood

Project Updates

For ongoing project updates, including the construction schedule and site logistics, please visit our partner's web page.

Size & Capacity

The four-level parking pavilion will feature 530 parking spaces. With the absorption of the 103 spaces on the current surface lot (Lot K), the parking pavilion will add 427 additional spaces to the College’s parking inventory.

The College anticipates using Level 1 of the pavilion (116 spaces) for commuter/faculty/staff/visitor parking. Levels 2 – 4 (414 spaces) will be used for resident student parking. The 240 spaces on the existing Highland Avenue surface lot and adjacent deck will be designated for commuter/faculty/staff/visitor parking.

The image to the right is from Chicago Avenue looking south toward the Brainard and Highland intersection, with the parking pavilion on the right and the Residence Hall/Recreation Center in the distance.

An image from Chicago Avenue looking south toward the Brainard and Highland intersection, with the parking pavilion on the right and the Residence Hall/Recreation Center in the distance.

Design

The parking pavilion has been designed as a precast structure with stamped brick that will complement surrounding campus buildings, including Merner Field House, the Residence Hall/Recreation Center, and New Hall.

There will be three vehicular ingress/egress points:

  • Two north side entrances/exits will be accessible from a newly created private roadway as part of an expanded four-way stop at Highland Avenue and Brainard Street
  • One entrance/exit at the southwest corner of the parking pavilion near the New Hall parking lot

The image to the right is from the northeast corner of Brainard and Highland, looking southwest toward the parking pavilion, with the Highland lot and Res/Rec to the left and Merner Field House in the distance.

An image from the northeast corner of Brainard and Highland, looking southwest toward the parking pavilion, with the Highland lot and Res/Rec to the left and Merner Fieldhouse in the distance.

Construction Timeline

Site preparation will begin in May/June 2023; significant construction will occur July – December; and the College anticipates opening the parking pavilion for vehicular use in January 2024.

Traffic and Parking Analysis

The College contracted with Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Aboona, Inc. (KLOA) to conduct further traffic and parking analysis of its campus and the surrounding area, and to evaluate the impact of a parking pavilion in the selected location. The KLOA data collection and findings are outlined below.

Data Collection

  • The campus wide study was conducted in the area bounded by North Avenue to the north, Sleight Street to the east, Prairie Avenue to the south, and Ellsworth Street to the west
  • Data collection and counts, including on-street and off-street parking supply and demand surveys, were conducted during four time periods:
    • A typical spring weekday
    • A typical fall weekday
    • A Friday night special event (2022 Crosstown Classic high school football game)
    • A Saturday special event (2022 North Central College Homecoming)
  • 24 total hours of traffic and pedestrian data collection was conducted per each studied location
  • 61 total hours of parking data collection was conducted per each study’s location

Key Findings

  • The off-street parking locations for commuter/staff/visitor parking locations are 90 percent occupied at peak, warranting additional campus parking capacity
  • The proposed pavilion will increase the available off-street parking locations for commuter/staff/visitor parking south of Chicago Avenue
  • The proposed pavilion will reduce the utilization of on-street parking on a typical day and during events
  • The volume of traffic generated by the full utilization of the pavilion on a typical weekday will have a limited impact on the operations of the area roadway network.

Parking Pavilion Benefits

  • Located in close proximity to most of the College’s residence halls
  • Minimizes the number of vehicles traversing the Brainard Street midblock crosswalk south of Highland Avenue
  • Due to the all-way stop sign control at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Brainard Street, pedestrian and vehicle conflicts will be regulated
  • Increases available off-street parking locations for commuter/staff/visitor parking south of Chicago Avenue
  • Reduces the utilization of on-street parking on a typical day and during events

The volume of traffic generated by the full utilization of the pavilion on a typical weekday will have a limited impact on the operations of the area roadway network.

The North Central College parking pavilion at dusk, looking west toward Downtown Naperville, with the existing Highland lot in the foreground, Merner Fieldhouse to the left, and New Hall in the distance.

The North Central College parking pavilion at dusk, looking west toward Downtown Naperville, with the existing Highland lot in the foreground, Merner Field House to the left, and New Hall in the distance.

Animation

This is a computer-generated animated view of the parking pavilion as it will appear by January 2024.

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Contact Us

If you have questions regarding the new parking pavilion, please contact the Office of Institutional Communication at oic@noctrl.edu. If you have general questions regarding parking on campus, please contact Campus Safety at CampusSafety@noctrl.edu or call the 24/7 hotline at 630-637-5911.

A North Central College Campus Safety vehicle.