Ozarks Technical Community College on Wednesday hired a contractor to convert a nearby property at Pythian and Hampton streets into a parking lot.
The OTC Board of Trustees approved a bid of $1,855,000 from DeWitt and Associates to build a 201-spot parking lot on the northeast corner of the intersection, across the street from OTC's Early Childhood Center. Including equipment, design and other costs, the project is estimated to be $2,212,345,24, funding for which will come from a 2021 bond, according to documentation.
When completed, the lot will add 201 parking spaces to the north side of the Springfield campus. The college plans to lose about 200 spaces when it builds a student success center in a parking lot on the south side of its Information Commons building.
That will keep the total number of parking spaces at OTC around 2,500, said Rob Rector, vice chancellor of administrative services. The project should be completed in time for the fall 2024 semester.
“We’ll be able to replace the parking we are going to lose in C lot,” Rector said. “We’re losing 200 in C lot, but we’re going to gain 201 with this, so it’s basically a one-for-one.”
In addition to the parking spaces, the lot will feature a pedestrian connection crossing Pythian on the intersection’s eastern side, equipped with a crosswalk and flashing beacon. The lot will also offer landscaping, LED lighting and surveillance cameras.
The project calls for the demolition of five houses along Hampton Avenue. All of the properties were vacant as of August, said Mark Miller, director of communications for the college.
The lot is part of a master plan that calls for a northern expansion of the campus. It will connect to a property that includes the former Mount Carmel United Methodist Church. The college bought the church property for $640,000 in a sale that closed earlier this week.
OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said plans call for keeping the church building intact, using it for one of the college’s programs. While decisions for usage have not yet been made, Higdon said during Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting that the building’s rebuilt sanctuary could be optimal for jazz band and choir programs.
“They built a new sanctuary about 20 years ago,” Higdon said during the meeting. “It’s a really good space, with a new roof and repaved parking lot. They didn’t let it physically decline.”
The L-shaped lot under development will extend eastward along Pythian to the church, and northward to Scott Street. Several homes to the east of the lot along Scott Street will remain, and a water detention pool will be built on the northwest corner of the property. It will also feature an iron retaining wall.
Silver Springs Park’s swimming pool is located on Scott, across the street from the OTC property. Higdon said during Wednesday’s meeting that the college is working with the Springfield-Greene County Park Board to allow parking in the lot once it is completed.
