Parking
proposed at veteran’s hospital
By Gina Ponce
On-line Forty-Niner
Doug
Robinson, vice president of Student Services
at Cal State Long Beach, said the Veterans
Affairs Hospital and CSULB has been discussing
the possibility of leasing land for the
past three to four years now.
CSULB has shown a need for more housing
and parking in recent years. Robinson said
there are two proposals on the table. One
asks for five acres of land for more campus
housing and the other asks for a half-acre
for more parking.
Robinson said there are other competing
interests, such as other hospitals and senior
centers, who also are looking to put out
proposals. The land will most likely be
open to competitive bids because it is owned
by a federal agency.
Robinson said the hospital will establish
a minimum bid based on how they value: the
land. As of right now, an approximate land
value has not been established.
“What we would like to do is compatible
with the VA, that is to serve the public,”
Robinson said.
CSULB has had a long-term relationship with
the VA Hospital since it is a neighbor.
Health and art students have interns to
work with the hospital in volunteer services
and on projects.
“What we envision now is to lease the land
to build some apartments for students,”
Robinson said.
But, Alice Martinez, a spokeswoman for the
VA Hospital, said, “We have had discussions
in the past, but at this time there are
no current discussions.”
Martinez said the community is always interested
in the land because it is in an ideal location.
The hospital headquarters in Washington,
D.C. decides whether discussion can even
take place.
According to Tom Bass, senior director of
Parking and Transportation Services, CSULB
is currently leasing space at the VA Hospital
for a construction yard as part of a telecommunications
project. This was done so as not to take
away parking space on campus.
Bass said the campus was expecting to have
more parking spaces available for students
at the hospital this semester, but the VA
did not get back to them in a timely manner.
He said the hospital’s procedures were too
slow because CSULB needs things to start
happening at the beginning of the fall semester.
Bass said the timing process is difficult
to get in sync and neither the school nor
the hospital has been successful.
CSULB students would benefit directly from
leasing the land because new apartment housing
and parking spaces would be just to the
west of the University Bookstore and Psychology
buildings.
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