Effects of MSU's campus expansion not yet clear

By: Sarah Khan

Posted: 2/19/08

Missouri State has recently increased its presence downtown to more than 350,000 square feet of owned and leased space. The newest lease agreement was made in order to allow Siceluff Hall to be vacated while FREUP renovations are made to the building.

While the university is pleased to be a part of downtown development, some downtown businesses and employees are worried about the congestion.

"It has definitely gotten harder and harder to find parking spots, even in the lots that are designated only for businesses," Lynn Hunter, an employee at Trolleys, said. "It gets to the point where students and people from the school have no other choice than to park in other lots besides the MSU lots.

"If they do keep moving school stuff down here, there are going to be issues with parking just like there are on campus."

Others are excited for the potential increase in business the presence of the university could bring.

"I would love to see more foot traffic downtown, and I think that is something that will definitely come with time since students have more of a reason to be downtown now, besides going to the bars," said Janet Denison of Pastiche boutique downtown. "I think it could end up helping the whole economy of downtown all around."

There are some, though, who are still waiting to see any changes.

"I can tell it's gotten a little more crowded in the gym, but it hasn't been any more congested downtown as far as traffic," said Sarah Simpson, who works at the downtown YMCA.

Simpson's fellow YMCA employee, Kari Cunningham, said parking downtown has always been difficult.

"It's a little harder to find parking, but parking downtown is limited to begin with, so that's kind of unavoidable," Cunningham said.

However, it's difficult to know how much the move will affect downtown parking until it's been completed.

"I don't think we will really know what kind of changes the move is going to bring until they are all moved in," Kenzie Finnegan of Trolleys. "Right now, it's kind of the same as ever."

The university is expected to complete the move by the end of the spring 2008 semester.