Two major construction projects will temporarily close an entrance to the University of Houston, as well as student parking spaces.

Starting Jan. 23, the north lane of Entrance 14 off Cullen Boulevard will be closed until March 1 to facilitate the installation of exterior walls on the $81 million Science and Engineering Research Classroom Complex (SERCC).

The work was scheduled to begin during the winter break and would have been completed by the start of the spring semester. An error by the manufacturer of SERCC’s exterior walls forced the university to delay the start of the project until late January, explained Dave Irvin, associate vice president for plant operations.

Irvin added that the partial street closing would temporarily close metered parking along Entrance 14.

While work on SERCC’s walls have briefly stalled, construction on UH’s new $25.8 million parking garage is set to begin on Monday, Dec. 20.

The garage will be located at the north end of Parking Lot 1A at Calhoun Road and University Drive near Entrance 4 and the Hilton University of Houston Hotel. When the lot’s north end is closed starting Dec. 20, about 450 student parking spaces will be lost, according to Irvin.

He said this loss of spaces was taken into consideration during the garage’s planning and should be offset by the addition of more than 450 student spaces including approximately 260 spaces in Lot 4A on Wheeler Avenue and 200 spaces in Lot 8A on Cullen Boulevard. These new spaces will be added during the winter break.

Francine Parker
fparker@central.uh.edu