BRONX (June 10, 2005)— A packed crowd of elected and appointed officials, Fordham administrators and guests turned out on Friday to witness the long-awaited groundbreaking of the $32.5 million Fordham Regional Parking Facility, which is expected to become a transportation nexus in the Bronx.
“This morning we mark yet another milestone in Fordham University’s long and historic relationship with our beloved Bronx,” Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, told the audience in parking Lot H on the University’s Rose Hill campus, where the facility will be built.
The project, which was initiated in 1998, is the culmination of efforts by the University, city, state and federal government. The parking facility is expected to open in 2006.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), who attended the groundbreaking and represents the Bronx, Westchester and Rockland, said the facility demonstrates Fordham’s commitment to the Bronx. “Fordham University has been one of the treasures of this borough, and we are fortunate to be led by leaders of true vision.”
This intermodal transportation facility will serve as a hub for mass transit. After completion of the project, Fordham will provide shuttle service to and from the University, the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, the Belmont-Arthur Avenue neighborhood and shopping district, and the Metro North Rail Line for parking facility patrons. The shuttle service will be financed through revenues generated by the parking facility.
“This is important to our future as a region and as a county,” said Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, who attended the event. The new five-story structure will reduce parking and traffic congestion in the most vibrant retail center in the Bronx and will be “a place of hope and a place of opportunity,” according to Carrión.
The 1,546-space lot will be built under the supervision of Desman Associates, the project’s principal architect, on 4.6 acres at the southeastern tip of the Rose Hill campus. The new facility will provide both short-term and long-term paid parking, serving both the general public and University needs. The pricing structure has not yet been determined. All of the additional surface parking lots on the Rose Hill campus will be decommissioned, providing open space and opportunities for future development.
The 477,000-square-foot lot originally was owned by Fordham, but was taken over by the city in the early 1900s to build the City Hospital of New York. The hospital was torn down and Fordham repurchased the land in 1977, turning it into the current Parking Lot H.
