Cracking and crumbling asphalt, littered with potholes that range from the size of a textbook to the width of one the blue doors on DSA’s campus. This is the state of the student parking lot.
The most recent renovations to DSA’s aging gym was completed by the HM Kern Corporation, which has also worked on smaller-scale projects to parts Hillside, Jordan, Riverside and Southern High School. Since the Academy and Main buildings are next on the DSA renovation list, the likelihood of a lot replacement is small.
“There’s only so much students can do to get things in motion. I’ve had meetings with Mr. Hawks frequently and he’s been a huge help with the process…unfortunately, adults don’t tend to listen to students and their needs, especially when there are more important things to fund. Mr. Hawks has informed me that the parking lot is most likely going to be repaved completely this summer, so juniors should have something to look forward to,” Meredith McMillen, senior and Student Council president explained.
Student Council held a ticket raffle, which raised money for fixing potholes. Students such as Anagha Jandhyala, junior and member of Student Council, are concerned about the state of it, student safety, and the timeline.
“Initially when we had the fundraiser, it was going well, and Meredith was talking to the PTSA and they said that we were not responsible for that, they would be responsible and the school; they would have to go through DPS to get that fixed - it wasn’t a student’s job...,” Jandhyala explained.
These potholes in the lot are formed when water rests in pavement it cracks and freezes, making existing rifts larger. According to usclimatedata.com, the average precipitation in the months of January, February, and December are all above 3.5 inches. Ice persists during this period, increasing the size of existing potholes. On February 20th, the day of the ACT, school was delayed for two hours due to the threat of ice, an ever-present reminder.
“It’s a huge safety hazard and cars have gotten stuck more than once,” McMillen said.
Potential methods to fix deteriorated asphalt in the lot include removing and resurfacing sections, but based on the condition of the parking lot, a full resurfacing overlay will be required. A quick, temporary solution was patching up potholes with sand and gravel, as was done at the lot entrance near the stairs by the tennis courts.
“Asphalt parking lots need to be coated with liquid asphalt every few years and be completely resurfaced every 10 years or less, causing interruptions of use of the parking lot for the business,” the Concrete Network stated on their website.
However, projects such as renovating the Main Building, currently over 90 years old, come first as they pose a potential health and safety concern to students and staff. This pushes sprucing up or even repaving the student parking lot down on the list of projects.
“Well its not getting done anytime soon, so good luck to next year’s seniors,” D. Hothi, senior, said.