Milford School Getting Second Parking Lot
Wawasee Community School Corp. plans to begin work in early fall on a second parking lot for Milford School.
Between 25 and 30 parking spaces will be added by the construction, which school officials hope will also facilitate the flow of people who want to visit the school office.
“The big problem over in Milford is that you have three entrances to the grounds: the circle drive, the second one where the bus drivers park and then the third, big lot on the north which makes people want to enter through the north doors,” said Bob Lahrman, support services director with WCSC.
Currently, visitors are expected to park in the north lot and walk down the sidewalk past where buses usually park to the main doors on the east side of the building. Because of the entrance’s indirect location, however, many people bypass it and enter through the north doors, which lead to middle school classrooms, the cafeteria and the gym.
The new lot will be just south of the point where Catherine Street dead ends on Elm, with an entrance off Elm on the north side and an exit onto Elm on the south end. The fence that currently divides that property from the bus drive will be removed or modified, WCSC Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington said.
On the advice of the Milford utilities superintendent and members of the town council, original plans for the new parking lot were altered to feature angle parking “in excess of” 25 parking spaces,” Lahrman said. Buggy parking will be moved to the south end of that lot, will be larger and will have a gravel base instead of asphalt. Handicap parking will remain at the east end of the north lot, though, because the size of the new lot and its proximity to the bus lane doesn’t allow for the grading handicap spots require.
The school corporation purchased and demolished a house on Elm Street two years ago in preparation for the additional parking lot.
For complete coverage, see this week’s issue of The Mail-Journal.