At Molloy College, parking is at a premium

Molloy College broke ground last September on its new Public Square and student recreation center — the first major construction project on its Rockville Centre campus since 1992.

According to college spokesman Ken Young, the new student center will be 57,000 square feet, and will contain classrooms, a 550-seat theater, an art gallery and a multimedia center. Construction is running on time, said Young, and is expected to be completed in spring 2011.

The college also started construction on its first-ever residence hall which will house 150 students. That is expected to be completed in fall 2011.

With work on the school’s Hempstead Avenue campus well under way, parking for faculty, staff and students has emerged as an issue for the upcoming school year.

At the village Board of Trustees briefing on June 24, Jim Multari, Molloy's director of facilities, asked if the college could lease 200 spots in Municipal Parking Field 12 on Sunrise Highway, from early September through early May. Molloy would provide a shuttle bus service for its employees back and forth from the campus to the parking field.

The trustees are expected to decide on the parking lease for Molloy at an upcoming board meeting.