Since the construction of the new athletic complex began, almost three grades of student drivers have been crammed into the temporary parking lot.

Despite being rare, minor fender-benders were still a problem last year. And entering the new school year, the new parking lot looks completed– leaving the driving portion of the student body with an unanswered question: “Why isn’t the lot open yet?”

“They can’t come in from the neighborhood…that means the construction workers have to come through the main parking lot,” Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini said. “Even though we have redeveloped some of the parking lots, it’s not open yet because…they still have to use that access.”

However, the future could bring some changes.

“Until we move into the new building, the second semester of the school year, all that construction access will remain,” Dini said. “By mid year we’ll move some of the student parking, probably, starting with the seniors, back over to the main parking lot,”

As for the rest of the students? Dini says he’s not sure yet, especially since the decision is months away.

Of course, there are plans for future renovations after the new parking lot. But before reverting the current student parking lot to the field it used to be, the school has plans to update some of its other facilities.

“Once the new construction is finished…we’re going to do renovation of the existing athletics board, so the wrestling deck and the existing pool is going to be converted into a field house,” Dini said. “That work will happen starting in January, and will likely be completed during the summer.”