Modern Parking Building Opened at the UASD

Modern Parking Building Opened at the UASD
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, 06/08/2011

President Leonel Fernández cut the ribbon to officially inaugurate the new modern parking garage at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) which has a capacity to accommodate 1,248 vehicles. The new construction was built by the Supervisory Office of Public Works at a cost of one billion de pesos.

“The transformation process of the State University in this higher education center with the most modern infrastructure is the result of the vision of President Leonel Fernández,”

President Fernández was accompanied by university authorities and government officials at the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Luis Sifres, Director of the OISOE, said this was the first time in Dominican history that a government has included UASD buildings in its infrastructure programming without the university community having to resort to the same red tape that characterized such petitions in the past, according to the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

“The transformation process of the State University in this higher education center with the most modern infrastructure is the result of the vision of President Leonel Fernández,” said Mr. Sifres.

He went on to explain that this joint project, carried out under President Fernández’s administration, is part of the President’s ongoing policy to pay special attention to and prioritize investment in education, aware that education is the road to development. He added that there are also construction projects going on in regional centers as well, such as Puerto Plata, Santiago, Higüey, San Juan de la Maguana and Bonao. He also announced that soon there will be a UASD campus in Barahona.

“In the central headquarters of this university, the government is building a science, technology and information center, an administrative tower and a university cafeteria with a parking lot to accommodate 600 vehicles,” said the Director of the Supervisory Office of Public Works

University Rector, Mateo Aquino Febrillet, added that this public construction is an integral part of the campus’s pedestrian project and contributes not just to road safety on campus but also to cutting down on noise and providing a quieter atmosphere for intellectual study and research needed by students and academics.
 
“The UASD is jubilant with the inauguration of this parking building and the effort made by our President of the Republic, Doctor Leonel Fernández Reyna”, stressed Aquino Febrillet.

He explained that the building is totally in keeping, in terms of parking and circulation, with the plans laid out in the Proposal of the Master Plan for the Central Headquarters elaborated by the Commission for the Modernization and Preservation of Campus and University Buildings.

“It is important to stress the fact that, with this public work in service, the government is contributing to the tranquility of the university students who can now rest assured that their parked cars are safe, protected and can be seen through a closed circuit TV as well as through a security cameras in a special guard room. There are also electronically-controlled entry bars and special fire protection installations,” said the UASD Rector.  

He added that, in addition to limiting vehicle circulation along the campus streets, the parking lot contributes to the reduction of toxic fumes. It contributes to cleaning the environment and therefore protecting the health of the more than 100,000 people who pass through the university campus.

The Rector called on all university students to do their best to take care of the new building and its installations, to use them adequately and to keep in mind that they are part of a public works project and, from now on, are part of an important national heritage of the oldest university in the New World.

Details of the construction

The building, built in the southern part of the university campus, is made of reinforced concrete over an area of 27,797 square meters. It has seven levels, a basement; it was built in such a way as to provide security to its users including vehicles that will be on duty to guard against robberies.

It also has four elevators with a capacity to carry four people each; there are four multipurpose stairways, a little sitting area, two lookout towers, administration office, four commercial areas and small gardens. The whole building is well-lit.  

The building was blessed by Father Francisco Lluberes Javier, Rector of Loyola College. The UASD choral group, with singer Félix de Oleo, participated in the inaugural ceremony.