With only two weeks left until Frontier Fiesta begins on March 21, the biggest event of the spring semester is coming up fast.
Frontier Fiesta, UH’s spring event, transforms an area of campus into Fiesta City. | File photo/The Daily Cougar
Last year, the event was in the Robertson Stadium parking lot, but the Frontier Fiesta Association was forced to choose a new venue because of the construction — one that could further complicate the already common complaints of parking on campus.
March 8-24, parking lots 20C and 20A, across the street from the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center, will be closed to make room for the festival.
The parking closure will come in phases, with a section of parking lot 20C closing on March 8, an additional section closing on March 15, and the last of lot 20C along with a portion of 20A on March 19. All parking lots will reopen on March 24.
“We have additional parking that our organization, in collaboration with Parking and Transportation, has provided at the Energy Research Park. There’s plenty of parking out there,” said Keith Kowalka, the assistant vice president for Student Affairs — Student Life.
“We’re going to have additional buses on the route for ERP so that students can make that quicker, and so that students can make that (trip) a lot safer.”
The intramural field across from the Moore’s School of Music was considered for Frontier Fiesta, but it was determined to be too difficult to clean if the area was significantly trashed.
Another option was parking lot 8A, which is across from Cambridge Oaks apartments. This location was considered too risky, as the music and commotion from the festival could cause the surrounding neighborhood to call in a noise complaint.
The Energy Research Park itself was considered as well, but given the area’s distance from the university it was deemed unlikely that students and community members would go out of their way to get to it. It would lose the casual guests and the students who stumble across the festival after class.
“This year, with our slogan ‘In time, our time, this time,’ my board came together and (said), ‘what is the best bet. Where is the place where we’re going to be seen, to be heard, to have the chance for us to be here?’ (…) That’s when we chose lot 20,” Kowalka said.
While many students are upset about the change, citing existing parking issues, some do not mind.
“I think it’s fine. I think it’s a nice event, like having the rodeo here at UH. So I don’t have any issues about parking somewhere else,” said construction management senior Carlos Puerta.
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