Penn State Intercom......October 19, 2000

New lot doubles
student parking at DuBois

With the toot of a horn and few laps in a shiny, brand-new Chrysler borrowed just for the occasion, student leaders officially opened a new 229-vehicle student parking lot at Penn State DuBois.

The new lot doubles student parking at the campus and increases total parking there by nearly 70 percent.

The new facility sits on a 2.9-acre tract of land at the base of Monument Hill, resting place of John DuBois, town founder. DuBois' gravesite, topped by a statue of a woman symbolizing Hope, looks directly over the lot, but until recently was completely obscured from view by overgrown brush.

Lee Simpson and Associates of DuBois designed the lot, which measures 108 feet by 728 feet. HRI Inc. of Brookville was the contractor.

The parking lot was only the first step in a project aimed at transforming Monument Hill. The DuBois Educational Foundation acquired the 10.4-acre Monument Hill site for the campus this past spring. Now, with the help of local residents, the campus hopes to embark on a project that will transform the property into an area that will be able to be enjoyed both by students and the community.

Tentative elements of the proposed plan include:

n The Path of Peace, a viewing path that leads up the hill to the DuBois monument;

n The Circle of Hope, a grassy, hilltop meadow featuring natural stone markers and a viewing pavilion;

n A nature walk trail that rings the hill and includes plant communities, a campus tree planting project, the Council of Pines living classroom and a paracourse for exercise;

n The Cliffs, an adventure playground lined with gardens that community groups plant and maintain;

n The Walnut Grove, an amphitheater built into the natural slop of the hillside, to be used as a classroom setting and for community performances; and

n Cardboard Hill, a steep-sloped recreation area named after a hill local children used to enjoy careening down on homemade cardboard sleds.

The park is the brainchild of local community leaders, the campus and the Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance at Penn State. Based at University Park, the Hamer Center provides a forum for the public and the University to work together on community design issues. Inherent in the center's mission is the desire to design projects that meet the needs of a community.

Back