UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Beginning July 19, changes to parking and visitor access to the Arboretum at Penn State will be implemented to make way for the construction of the new Palmer Museum of Art. The Arboretum’s current parking lot will be removed, and visitor parking will be available across Bigler Road in the lot adjacent to the Lewis Katz Building. During construction, two ADA-accessible parking spaces will remain available near the Arboretum’s Overlook Pavilion and can be reached via the Arboretum’s service road.
While parking in the Arboretum lot has been free of charge in the past, parking at the Katz Building lot will require a Penn State parking permit valid in Orange lots or payment of a $1 per hour fee. This requirement will be in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All University Park parking permits are valid in the Katz lot on weekdays after 4 p.m. and all day on Saturdays and Sundays, except on football game days. Visitors will be able to purchase parking for a maximum of two hours during weekdays when Penn State classes are in session during the fall and spring semesters. On weekdays during the summer and winter breaks, visitors will be able to extend their length of stay past two hours. On Saturdays and Sundays, all-day parking will be available at the rate of $8.
To purchase parking, visitors may either use the pay station in the Katz Building lot to pay via credit card, or pay via the ParkMobile app, which is also available for use in many other parking lots on campus. Visitors may download the ParkMobile app or visit ParkMobile’s Penn State site to learn more.
Museum construction also will mean changes to Arboretum visitor access. New stop signs on Bigler Road near the Katz parking lot will improve traffic control for pedestrians crossing the road to the Arboretum’s H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens. In addition, temporary ADA-accessible walkways will be installed around the perimeter of the construction site, providing pedestrian access to the gardens.