News
Faculty and staff who park in the lot behind New Hampshire Hall are upset over the prospect of the College transferring the lot for exclusive use by the Hanover Inn, which already uses half of the approximately 36 spaces.
The controversy is the latest symptom of Hanover's ongoing parking crunch that has resulted, in part, from recent College expansion and construction.
The East Wheelock Residential Cluster, the Moore psychology building and Berry Library were all built on the sites of former parking lots.
Handing over the New Hampshire lot to the Inn "would be a huge inconvenience" and "a major safety issue" for employees who work at the Hopkins Center, said Mara Sabinson, chair of the theater department, which has sent a letter to the administration protesting the proposed transfer.
The lot, she said, is the safest and most accessible option for employees, many of whom do not leave work until after late-night rehearsals and performances.
"A lot of employees, especially women, don't want to be traipsing around in the dark at 11:30 or 12:00 at night," Sabinson said.
Parking officials at Dartmouth and at the Inn, however, maintain that the Inn's parking facilities are currently insufficient, and say the lot won't be designated for the Inn's exclusive use until the College is able to make alternate parking arrangements for its employees who use the lot.
Allowing the Hanover Inn to have full use of the New Hampshire lot would ease the Inn's acute parking shortage, but not solve it, Hanover Inn Manager Matthew Marshall said.
Town zoning laws require the Hanover Inn to provide 172 parking spaces.
