By Malcolm Butler
As enrollment continues climbing at Louisiana Tech, university officials hope a new $7 million parking deck will help ease one of the most common frustrations found on college campuses — finding a place to park.
Construction is underway on a new single-deck parking facility located on Mississippi Avenue that university officials say should be completed before students return for the Fall 2026 quarter. Once finished, the project will provide approximately 550 parking spaces, a net gain of 221 spots for the campus.
Senior Vice President for Student Advancement and Chief Operating Officer Dickie Crawford said the project is being funded through a student-approved fee designed specifically to cover construction costs and annual debt payments tied to the project.
“It’s funded by a student fee that students voted on for his specific project,” Crawford said.
The project comes as Louisiana Tech continues seeing enrollment increases following declines during the COVID-19 pandemic years.
According to Crawford, Louisiana Tech recorded a total enrollment of 12,141 students last fall after three consecutive years of growth. The university’s freshman class totaled 2,413 students, which Crawford said was the second largest freshman class in school history.
“We think this fall will be the fourth year in a row we’ll grow in enrollment,” Crawford said.
That growth is creating additional pressure on infrastructure needs across campus, especially parking and housing.
“We want to keep growing as a campus,” Crawford said. “And so as our enrollment keeps growing, we’re going to have to address parking, housing, classroom space, everything.”
Parking challenges, Crawford noted, are most noticeable during morning hours when the majority of classes are being held.
“Probably 75% of our classes are in the morning,” Crawford said. “So, we’re trying to accommodate all the cars coming to campus from faculty, staff and students in the morning.”
While complaints about parking are common on nearly every college campus, Crawford said the issue is often more about convenience than overall availability.
“On every campus, it’s always that way,” Crawford said. “I think we have good parking, but people want it as close as possible to the building they want to go to.”
Crawford said Louisiana Tech has invested heavily in parking improvements over the past decade, estimating the university has spent roughly $20 million on parking-related projects during that span.
Louisiana Tech currently boasts approximately 6,000 parking spaces, including faculty/staff, students, and handicap.
Unlike previous projects funded directly through university resources, Crawford said this marks the first major parking initiative largely financed through a student-supported funding mechanism.
Construction on the new deck began in late November, shortly after the Fall 2025 quarter concluded in an effort to minimize disruptions during the busiest parts of the academic year.
Crawford said university officials worked closely with Triad Builders to establish a construction timeline that would allow work to progress through winter and spring while avoiding the loss of large amounts of parking during the fall quarter.
“They feel like they’re very confident they’ll be ready by mid-August,” Crawford said.
Despite the university’s recent enrollment gains, Crawford said there are currently no immediate plans for another parking deck project. However, he acknowledged that continued enrollment growth will likely require ongoing discussions about future campus infrastructure needs.
“We just got to keep ahead of that curve,” Crawford said.
University officials say those discussions extend beyond parking and include balancing future development with preserving the overall feel of Louisiana Tech’s campus.
“Doing that in a way that also keeps our campus core beautiful, walkable, pedestrian friendly,” Crawford said. “All of that is being discussed and what that looks like.”
