Liberty blocks The Plaza from those wishing to park to see Obama

By Dave Thompson
and
Alicia Petska
Published: August 20, 2008

Drivers hoping to park at the Plaza and make the short walk to E.C. Glass for the Obama event Wednesday evening were met by blocked entrances and Liberty University police officers directing them instead to City Stadium.

That’s where city officials had hastily arranged shuttle service after learning Wednesday morning that LU, which owns the Plaza, would not allow event parking at the shopping center.

A few hundred vehicles ended up using the stadium lot, where city school buses had made about 15 trips to E.C. Glass by 6:15 p.m.

Lee Beaumont, LU’s director of auxiliary services, said the university never received a request to use Plaza parking space.

“There was no conversation at all,” Beaumont said. “… Nobody bothered to talk to us about it.”

He added LU had multiple concerns about allowing the event parking, including the impact on tenants of the midtown shopping center and the school’s liability if an accident were to occur.

LU officials were also apprehensive about how the participation would affect the school’s status as a 501(c)(3) organization, a designation that prohibits partisanship.

The school has previously invited Obama to speak at its campus, and has played host to former presidential candidates, including Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

“When you only have half a day or a day to react to something, you can’t make a good decision,” Beaumont said, adding the school based its decision on practical concerns.

“We’re not trying to make a political statement.”

JoAnn Martin, the city’s director of communication, said the city was not involved in designating the Plaza for parking.

“We were told by the local campaign there would be parking there, and that was also printed on their tickets,” she said. “I think they were operating under the assumption that was public property.”

Nancy Cloyd and Bruce Johnson drove from Buckingham County for the Obama event and headed straight for E.C. Glass, where officers near the school directed them to City Stadium.

“That was pretty good, actually, because we’re not familiar with Lynchburg,” Cloyd said. “He (the officer) gave us pretty good directions.”

Sonny Witt, Lynchburg City Schools’ director of facilities and transportation, said everything went smoothly, considering officials only had about four hours to put the impromptu system together.

Witt said some of the six buses on hand probably were unnecessary, as buses were usually only half full when they left the parking lot.

“We didn’t get the surge we thought,” he said.