Blackburn College owns a rather sizeable plot of land across from the main campus off of Nicholas Street that, as is quite plain to see, is completely empty. There could be many uses for this plot of land and yet it goes on without purpose. The college only really uses it as extra parking on graduation day but the area has far greater potential.
Given that there are several cars that park in front of this lot in the road on a daily basis, it could be turned into a fully paved parking lot. This would also provide reasonable parking spots for the woefully crowded parking areas of the Jones and Stoddard Residence halls, while creating extra parking for visitors.
However, a more effective use of the lot could be an entire commuter center. Currently, commuters have a lounge in the Demuzio Campus Center (DCC) that provides a place to sit, do homework and watch TV. However, the excessive noise level in DCC does not make the commuter lounge an ideal environment. Commuters could go to the Lumpkin Learning Commons (LLC) for a quiet studying environment, but the parking area for the LLC is small and, when full, forces commuters to walk from farther away parking lots. With a commuter center on the empty lot, commuting students could have a dedicated area to study and relax between classes that has suitable parking facilities.
Another possible use for the land comes from Blackburn’s past. The lot used to hold a special type of housing that was granted to students of high achievement. The empty plot of land could be used to build a new dorm only available as an academic reward. Students with a certain GPA could be offered a spot in the nicer dorm that could feature larger, single person rooms.
Perhaps the lot could also be used for a particular academic major. For example, art majors have their own buildings, as do science and other majors, but there aren’t any buildings that particularly house history or communications majors. The new academic buildings could house specialized tools or facilities for those particular departments.
I do not necessarily have an opinion on what should go in the empty lot, or even how it would be accomplished, but I do believe that the space should be used for something. Even if the lot was used for special events or storing grounds equipment, it would be going to better use than complete emptiness. It is time for the college to use the empty lot for something other than empty space.