VUMC’s newest parking garage will open Monday. (photo by Dana Johnson)
New garage ready to offer up 4,100 additional spaces
Vanderbilt's massive new 25th Avenue Garage opens for use on Monday.
With a capacity of 4,100 cars, the 1.25 million-square-foot, 11-level parking structure is centrally located at the corner of 25th Avenue South and Highland Avenue, and is designed to ease congestion and serve as a valuable facility for staff, faculty, students and athletic event attendees.
The garage is a shared facility between the medical center and the university, with the university occupying approximately 25 percent, including a large share of the first two levels and portions of levels three through seven. The remainder of those levels and all of levels eight through 10 are devoted to medical center personnel, said Gene Ornes, director of Medical Center Traffic and Parking.
For medical center personnel, the new garage will operate on an access card system similar to the Capers Garage. In fact, for the next two months, those with Capers Garage access will also have access to the 25th Avenue Garage, Ornes said.
Staff, faculty and students who wish to transfer to the new garage can do so immediately or can wait for vehicle re-registration this summer.
Pricing will be similar to the Capers Garage:
• Level one — Y permits, $42.50 per month (similar to Z permits at Capers); handicap parking, $15 per month; and carpool parking, based on ridership.
• Levels two through seven — X permits, $32.50 per month (similar to P permits at Capers).
• Levels eight through 10 — XT permits, $17.50 per month (similar to PT permits at Capers).
• Level 11 — student permits (similar to level eight at Capers).
The new garage has separate entrances which will route drivers in from, and out to, 25th Avenue South, Highland Avenue (for university personnel only) or 24th Avenue South.
After 20 months of construction, the last sidewalks and landscaping are being installed and the final permits are being obtained from the appropriate city regulatory agencies.
The garage is one of the largest single-phase garages ever built in the southeast, officials say, and the 11-level facility should be easier to navigate than other garages due to its two sets of ramps, simple geometry and high-visibility graphics.
Additional features include 10 elevators, 20 "blue light" safety phones, more than 30 cameras, lighting levels three times higher than standard and various other safety features.
For more information about the new garage or to obtain parking there, contact the Medical Center Parking Facilities and Services Office at 936-1215 or the university's Office of Traffic and Parking at 322-2554.