Football parking change leads to a lot of questions

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The old rules for Illinois football parking were pretty simple. Until they got complicated.

Fans with season passes would go to a lot that fit their designation. If it was full, they'd go to another lot with the same designation.

The problems came when all the spaces were taken, leaving season-ticket holders with nowhere to go.

"They were getting angry," Illinois ticket manager Jason Heggemeyer said. "When you pulled up on gameday, you didn't know for sure that you were going to get in that parking lot. We had people show up two hours before game time and the lot would be full. That's a frustrating experience for people."

Illinois came up with a solution for the 2009 season: assigned lots. The school didn't just start sending out parking passes. Instead, it asked for input from the customers.

Members of the I-Fund were allowed to rank their order of lot preference. If you were accustomed to parking west of Memorial Stadium and you were in the right contributor level, you could keep your lot. The program is called "I Decide." Priority was placed starting with the highest donor levels. The same system used for selecting tickets a year ago.

Of those donating $500 or more annually, 85 percent received their first or second lot choice, Heggemeyer said.

Of course, not everyone is happy. Heggemeyer has been fielding complaints from customers who felt they weren't treated right by the new system.

"If you can get people to understand the process, most of the time they feel better about it," Heggemeyer said. "The main point for us is that this is better than what we had before.

"This was a needed change."

As parking goes in the Big Ten, Illinois is at the top in terms of nearby spaces. There are 7,000 slots in the lots controlled by the school. Go to Wisconsin for a game and you are parking far from Camp Randall. Same for Michigan. And Iowa. And Ohio State.

In the Big Ten, Heggemeyer said only Michigan State and Indiana rival Illinois when it comes to parking.

"We have a great parking situation here in terms of proximity to the stadium," Heggemeyer said. "Our worst lot would be considered a great lot when you go to Wisconsin."

But the demand for those parking spots has increased during the Ron Zook era. Season tickets have doubled, from 22,000 to 44,000, since Zook arrived, Heggemeyer said. The number of I-Fund members has climbed from 5,000 to 7,500 in the past two years. I-Fund members get a season parking pass as part of their membership benefits.

"The gameday environment has changed," Heggemeyer said. "Back five years ago, when we weren't winning games and there were 22,000 season ticket holders, I hesitate to think of those as the glory days. This is a much better environment, a much better atmosphere.

"These are growing pains. They are good growing pains. We're trying to do our best to get people through it."

Traffic should improve with the new system, Heggemeyer said. Fans won't be scrambling from one lot to another.

The parking changes will have an impact on everyone but the suite holders, who will remain in the paved lot west of the ARC.

– Bob Asmussen

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