An approximately $8 million project to build a four-story, 500-space parking garage at Mississippi State University is in the process of being finalized, with prospects of construction starting this summer and being completed by the start of the 2019 fall semester.
This parking garage will be built into the hill on Bailey Howell Drive, near Davenport Hall and Dogwood Hall. The zone for the new parking garage has yet to be determined, but it is envisioned to be a mixed-use facility similar to the parking garage at the Old Main Academic Center.
Jerimiah Dumas, director of Parking and Transit Services, said keeping prices for parking permits reasonable is a high priority for him. Dumas said they hope to make slight increases in parking permits, rather than have a dramatic price increase.
“We are currently in the process of increasing the prices of parking tags, but that is necessary for us to do as an auxiliary since we have to generate the cost of the project,” Dumas said.
In 2015, Dumas said a parking demand and occupancy study was implemented, and they evaluated every parking lot on campus multiple times throughout the semester. The results revealed the campus had some parking availability, but most of those parking spots were not the most convenient to access.
However, when analyzing the projections of student, faculty and staff growth moving forward, Dumas said they realized in the year 2019 or 2020, they would not have any available parking if MSU did not add a decent amount of parking spaces.
Dumas said location was vital when preparing the plans for this parking garage. They wanted to put the parking garage in an area where traffic could properly flow, rather than creating congestion in traffic during the school week and especially during sporting events.
Due to its current location, the parking garage will be used not only for student parking, but also for parking needs at the Sanderson Center and sporting events at Dudy Nobel, Davis Wade Stadium and Humphrey Coliseum.
While the construction documents are currently being finished, this parking garage is the first of three possible parking garages Parking and Transit Services hope to build in the coming years.
The MSU Office of Sustainability has been heavily involved in this project, with the intention of making this new parking garage the first net-zero energy building on campus. This will be accomplished by means of industrial solar power panels installed on the roof of the garage.
Dumas said the garage being energy efficient was in the building process since the start, and as the previous director of MSU’s Department of Sustainability, Dumas made sure to think about sustainability first.
“From the beginning, this building was designed to be very energy efficient, using LED lights among other things,” Dumas said. “By nature, it does not require a lot of power use, so it was not hard to design a solar power system to power the building. We are hopeful that the budget will allow them to make the building net zero.”
While the parking garage will have a minimum energy output, Tim Muzzi, director of Planning, Design and Construction Administration, said he hopes this parking garage’s impact will lead to future initiative on campus surrounding energy use. However, due to a tight budget and escalation of construction cost in recent months, Muzzi is unsure whether or not this addition to the parking garage will be included in the final plans.
“We have designed into the overall project the possible use of solar to obtain as near net zero energy consumption as practical. However, it is contingent on the budget as to whether it will be included or not in the building,” Muzzi said. “It is our hope that we are able to include this into the project, if not now, in the near future.”
Michael Berk, director for the School of Architecture, said he thinks making this parking garage solar powered is important to the future growth of the university, since it sets a precedent MSU values sustainability and looks to make a positive long-term impact, rather than making plans based on what is cheapest.
“As the director of the School of Architecture and founding member of the MSU Sustainability Committee, I am extremely proud to know that the university is considering the design and construction of a net-zero building,” Berk said. “This is ground-breaking news. Knowing that this new building will not be a drain on the existing energy grid is a major step towards meeting the University’s mission to demonstrate best practices to our students and to the rest of the state of Mississippi.”
Berk said he is hopeful this process will go into the final plans of the parking garage, and believes it will change the face of construction and energy on campus in years to come.
“In my humble opinion, all buildings built on a university campus should be budgeted by legislators to meet net-zero guidelines,” Berk said.
Dumas said regardless of whether or not the parking garage is able to be net-zero energy, it will make a positive impact on parking on campus, and will help reduce frustration around parking on campus in years to come.
“Our goal is help the campus in the most efficient and effective way possible,” Dumas said. “We are making every effort to apply that philosophy to the construction of this parking garage, as well as other construction projects in the future.”

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New parking garage construction begins this summer