[ Golden Gater Online - December 16, 1997 ]
Carolina Wolohan Jr.
Staff writer
Students who pedal to school will find a better place to park their bicycles when they return from winter break.
The Bike Barn, which is located in Lot 6 under the gym, offers free bike parking to SF State students and faculty. It is currently an enclosed space, fenced off by a chain link fence. Construction, which is scheduled to begin the first week of January, will include walls and a ceiling, making it a permanent structure and expanding bike capacity.
Another benefit of the new construction will be a bigger bike shop that will offer bike rentals and sales, in addition to repairs for a fee.
"It was too crowded to rent bikes before," said Dave Urbiztondo, owner of the shop that is included in the space of the Bike Barn. "We needed to be provided with that extra space."
The current structure was never meant to be permanent, Urbiztondo said, adding that he is glad the SF State Transportation Department is finally following through with its original plan.
"Our goal is to have it open for next semester," said Patricia Tolar, transportation coordinator at SF State. "It was always our intention to expand it. It's been very successful."
SF State student Liz McClurken, who uses the Bike Barn, said that the expansion is long overdue.
"One out of five times it's hard to find a place to put my bike," McClurken said. "Sometimes I've had to put my bike down on the floor because there was no space on the racks."
McClurken also hopes more people will use the Bike Barn instead of locking their bikes on handrails at school.
"I think more people would ride if they knew they had a place to put their bikes," McClurken said.
The new Bike Barn will still be in its current location, but will hold twice the amount of bikes. The new structure should fit 500 bikes, compared to the 250 it currently holds.
[ Golden Gater - December 16, 1997 ]