Good PBAU campus parking worth an 11-story 'monstrosity' in downtown West Palm
I look forward to the day when the skyline of West Palm Beach will be noted for an 11-story parking garage along Dixie Highway.
I know that Mayor Keith James has already called the planned parking facility at Palm Beach Atlantic University a 'monstrosity.'
But one of the advantages of being a mayor is you always get good parking, so he's probably not the proper judge for these kinds of amenities.
It's like asking a vegan what he thinks of pork chops.
So, let's not shortchange the value of good parking. I would put good parking as one of the top 'goods', right up there with good home fries, good WiFi, and good arch support.
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It would take a lot for me to come out against good parking.
The 11-story garage will be a complement to a proposed 25-story tower that will serve as a new dormitory for nearly a thousand PBAU students in some 275 dorm rooms.
These skyscraper-sized developments are part of a general growth plan for the small private Christian university as it plans to expand from 3,000 to 5,000 students.
Luring them with good parking is a great idea.
If I were the PBAU recruiters, I'd make the great parking central to the pitch to prospective students.
It might go something like this: 'Sure, we may not be as selective as some other schools, but hop in my golf cart and allow me to drive you up a few ramps at our new parking garage.'
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Just the sight of all that fresh asphalt in a sea of empty lined parking spaces would be enough to trigger an early-admission question.
Especially if there's no 'reserved for compact car' spaces. That whole idea is a failure, which is why most of them are filled with Cadillac Escalades, Chevy Suburbans and Ford F-350 pickup trucks.
But I digress. Where was I? Oh, yeah.
Not many colleges and universities can say their student parking options include an 11-story garage with a capacity to park nearly a thousand cars.
'Taking higher learning to new heights!' would be how I'd market it.
Maybe even change the school mascot from the sailfish to a condor, or some other bird noted for its high-altitude flight.
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Even the University of Florida, the flagship university in the state system, a university with about 60,000 students, can't compare to PBAU in the all-important tallest parking garage category.
The tallest parking garage at UF is only seven stories. Disappointing.
Mayor James doesn't get it. And he seems more worked up about the towering parking garage than the 25-story building next to it.
'It is a monstrosity. It is not appealing. We have been moving more toward a pedestrian-friendly urban corridor,' James said.
I guess he's worried that tourists will come from far and wide, clogging the downtown streets just to get a look at the giant parking garage.
It's right up there in size with the 12-floor Palm Beach County Jail on Gun Club Road, and much higher than the seven-level parking garage at Palm Beach International Airport.
So, yes. It will probably attract some parking garage tourists, people who aren't fit enough to climb Mount Everest, but still thirst for a high-altitude fix.
PBAU can take things to the next level, so to speak, by constructing a giant water flume down the side of the garage, one that empties students on ground level next to the academic buildings.
This will double as both a recreational attraction and a way for students not to be late for class during those times when the elevators in the garage aren't working.
The giant parking garage will also keep PBAU in the public eye as Vanderbilt University partners with the city of West Palm Beach to build a downtown graduate campus for the Nashville, Tenn.-based university.
The Vanderbilt campus is supposed to be a $300 million investment where students will study everything from business, to data science to artificial intelligence at an eye-catching campus that will feature a tourist-drawing arboretum.
'The tropical arboretum will showcase a diverse array of indigenous South Florida species,' Vanderbilt announced. 'Visitors might expect to see slash pines reaching for the sky, vibrant Cherokee Beans adding splashes of color and the iconic sabal palm standing proud.
'Other local flora like sea grape, gumbo limbo and buttonbush will further enhance the connection to the South Florida environment.'
Without the 11-story parking garage 'standing proud' at PBAU, the small local private school would be hopelessly outgunned by Vanderbilt's gaudy arboretum.
So, let's celebrate the future addition of a sun-blocking, 11-story 'monstrosity' on Dixie Highway where good parking spots will flourish.
Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network-Florida. He can be reached at fcerabino@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Where to park at Palm Beach Atlantic University? Stay tuned | Opinion
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