Champions Club Parking at Raider Park Announced
A joint venture between private and public entities will provide a much needed solution for parking at Texas Tech
An announcement was made Thursday, Feb. 11, that will greatly affect student and game-day parking at Texas Tech University. Representatives from TAO Development Group, the Texas Tech Alumni Association and the Red Raider Club announced the development of a 563,584 square foot parking garage that is scheduled for completion September 1, 2010, just in time for the 2010 Red Raider football season.
The idea for this project began several months ago as a clear need for additional student and game day parking became evident. Texas Tech University’s Raider Park will provide 1,500 spaces for students Monday through Friday. Currently there are more than 1,200 students on a waiting list for a space in commuter lot parking and nearly 4,000 for covered parking in TTU’s only other parking garage located at the corner of Flint and 18th St.
Spaces in Raider Park will be available to purchase by Tech fans looking for secure, covered parking that is close to Jones AT&T Stadium. These parking permits are being sold through the Texas Tech Alumni Association and are already available for the 2010 season. Spaces are not limited to members of the Texas Tech Alumni Association and are not sold in conjunction with Red Raider football tickets.
“This project will provide Red Raider fans the opportunity to park in a secured and covered structure that is only 920 feet from Jones AT&T Stadium,” Dr. Bill Dean, Associate Vice President of the Texas Tech Alumni Association said. “And aside from game-days Raider Park will help alleviate some of the parking issues faced by Texas Tech students.”
In addition, the top floor of the 11-story facility will be home to an 18,000 square foot ground level restaurant and bar as well as a rooftop open-air lounge overlooking Jones AT&T Stadium. The restaurant and bar will be open to the public Monday through Friday year round and exclusively to those fans with Raider Park permits on game-days.
Clayton Isom, CEO of TAO Development Group is projecting this project will create approximately 300 new jobs during the next few months of construction and 25 to 30 permanent jobs.
“With the recent slowdown of commercial projects in this market, we are proud to say that this project should have a huge impact on the local economy. It is our hope that Raider Park will return this historical location to the cornerstone of TTU once again,” Isom said.
The concept of a partnership between a privately owned business and a public company – in this case TTU – is becom?ing increasingly more common. This is primarily due to public universities looking for solutions for much needed capital improvements as a result of population growth.
“We are really excited about the opportunity to serve our fan base with additional parking and glad to team up with the Texas Tech Alumni Association and TAO Development to help us create a great game-day environment for our student athletes, coaches and fans,” Steve Uryasz, Assistant AD for the Red Raider Club said.
For more information regarding Raider Park or to purchase a parking permit please call (806) 742.GAME (4263) or visit www.TechChampionsClub.com.
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