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0903ReactorFieldChange

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Change in Reactor Field game-day

parking opens space for donors

BYLINE

By BETHANY JONES

DECK

EXCERPT

The decision to locate media and game-day employee parking in the Reactor Field lot
has prompted complaints from tail-gaters and students.

A profit of $36,250. A loss of $72,000.

BODY

copy ed: Rachel Heaton

Bethany Jones (816)838-4486

COLUMBIA — Replacing public parking at the Reactor Field lot with media and staff
for home football games this fall opens parking places closer to Memorial Stadium
that are being filled with donors to the Tiger Scholarship Fund.

Senior Associate Athletics Director Whit Babcock said 250all parking spaces for
media media spaces have added: beenbeen reassigned from Lot Y. This 200-space lot
on Carrie Francke Drive north of Reactor Field is now being used for donors to the
Tiger Scholarship Fund, along with 325 spaces once used for game-day employees
who have parked in various locations around Memorial Stadium. Staff and media do

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not pay for parking.

“Some donors got bumped up into better lots as a result of some of the staff pass
departures from various lots to Reactor Field, a domino effect, so to speak,” Babcock
said in an e-mail.

The 200 spaces in Lot Y have sold out. They were purchased for an additional $100
donation to the Tiger Scholarship Fund and $100 for a season parking pass that goes
to the Athleticsadded:s Department.

For donors to the Tiger Scholarship Fund, there's more to getting one of the new
spaces than simply paying the annual contribution and parking fee. Parking added:
for donors to the Tiger Scholarship Fundfor donors to the Tiger Scholarship fund in
the reassigned spaces added: in the reassigned spacesis based on each donor’s priority
points and by membership levels that range from $50 to added: aboveabove $26,802
according to MizzouGameday.com and above. added: according to
MizzouGameday.comChad Moller, spokesman for the MU Athleticsadded:s
Department, said some of the donors who will be moving into Lot Y previously parked
in Lot X on Hospital Drive. Also, added: TheThe 250added:newly empty newly
empty spaces out of the 1,300 in Lot X will be sold to the public on game daysadded:s
for $15.

Scott McSwain, a 39-year-old parole officer who used to pay the game-day fee of $15
to tailgate at the Reactor Field lot, is among those who have decided to become a
member of the Tiger Scholarship Fund for the privilege of parking in donor spots in
the spots that have opened inLot X.

"I felt like I had to buy a parking pass," McSwain said. "It is about the money. College
football is a big business. I understand, but I don’t like it.”

McSwain, season ticket holder for 11 years, said he paidmade the minimum
contribution of $50 to the Tiger Scholarship Fund and paid $100 for a season parking
pass. This guaranteed him a spot in one of the 1,050 donor spots in Lot X., but could
only purchase a pass because he has been a ticket holder for 11 years. A person
receives 2 points for every consecutive year season tickets have been purchased for
football or men’s basketball.

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Parking for donors to the Tiger Scholarship fund in the reassigned spaces added: in
the reassigned spacesis based on each donor’s priority points and by membership
levels that range from $50 to added: aboveabove $26,802 according to
MizzouGameday.com and above.added: according to MizzouGameday.com A person
receives 2 points for every consecutive year season tickets have been purchased for
football or men’s basketball.

Geoff Ingram, a 39-year-old accountant who tailgates with McSwain, said he couldn't
buy a parking pass because the season tickets were under McSwain's name.

“Even though all 10 of us have been season ticket holders for 11 years, I am the only
one that has the Tiger Scholarship Fund points, so my buddies don’t get the benefits
even though they have been paying for the tickets,” McSwain said.

McSwain said he was told that that a letter must be written and reviewed by a
committee to request that his friends be given points for the 11 years they have been
season ticket holders.

“There is no reason why we should have to be slaves to the University of Missouri to

get together," McSwain said. "We don’t mind paying for parking, just give us a place
where we all can park.

"The Royals treat us far better than the Tigers," McSwain said. "The 10 of us are going
to have a group meeting at the first game to decide if we should keep going to games
in the 2010 season.”

In 2005, $1.2 million was spent by MU Parking and Transportation to create the
Reactor Field lot. Babcock said MU continues to review whether to offer the 225 spots
in Reactor Field not assigned to staff and media to Tiger Scholarship Fund donors in
2010.

Offsetting the closure of the Reactor Field lot is 2,000 parking spaces available in
Parking Structure #7, the new garage located at the corner of Monk Drive and Virginia
Ave. This garage will have a general admission $15 parking fee on game days.

Babcock estimated a $12,000 loss per game for eliminating the $15 parking at Reactor
Field, or about $72,000 total for six home games. Those figures don't include

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expenses such as paying parking staff and a cleanup crew. The revenues will be
divided between MU and added: thethe Athleticsadded: s Department.

Police and campus officials have cited problems with fan behavior for closing the
Reactor Field lot to the public.

MU Police Capt. Brian Weimer said police tried to break up a fight on Oct. 11 and one
tailgater pushed an officer into a tent pole. He was arrested on suspicion of third-
degree assault on a law enforcement officer.

Ingram and McSwain believe that asking fans to show a ticket at each entrance in
Reactor would help with underage alcohol consumption. There are different theories,
but most agreeone thing that most agree on is that moving the students will not solve
anything.

“We have no idea what students are going to do, but we have a proactive approach,”
Weimer said.

MSA President Jordan Paul, who's been involved in conversations with MU

Chancellor Brady Deaton and members of the Athleticsadded: s Department about
closing the Reactor Field lot, remains opposed to the decision.

The Missouri Students Association on Aug. 31 posted a petition against the Reactor
Field change. The petition argues that there is not an alternative for students that is
cost effective and safe, and that this change will not help with fan behavior issues. The
general concern, the petition says, is that there won’t be enough open spaces for
students to park on game days.

"We couldn't come to an agreement, and the problems were not fixed," Paul said. "We
set a minimum goal to get 5,000 signatures., Tthis would show that the student body
does not stand by this decision."

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