Funding Gains for Parking at Naval Hospital

A House subcommittee Thursday approved spending $7.5 million to build a 600-space parking garage at the Naval Hospital in Balboa Park.

Navy officials had requested money for 950 added spaces to alleviate a serious parking problem that became apparent shortly after the $268-million facility opened in January, 1988, according to Cheryl Riess, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

The most frequently voiced complaint about the 760-bed hospital is the lack of parking, she said.

Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego), the ranking minority member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, said in a press release Thursday that military families are “sick and tired” of the parking problem.

“They can’t even reach the most modern medical facility in the nation because they can’t find a parking space,” Lowery said.

No Action in Senate

A construction contract for the structure could be awarded next April, Lowery said. The Senate has not yet taken up the military construction bill.

The parking structure is among more than a dozen military construction projects approved by the subcommittee for the San Diego area at a cost of $180 million.

Also approved was funding for the construction of child-care centers at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, the San Diego Naval Station and the Naval Training Center, at a cost of $3.9 million.

Lowery added a provision to the appropriations bill that directs the Navy to begin designing a $3.9-million child-care center for the Naval Submarine Base, where, he said, “an urgent need exists.” The facility would have an enrollment of about 300 infants, toddlers and preschoolers, he said.

The subcommittee also approved:

* Camp Pendleton construction projects totaling $59.7 million, including $24.5 million for bachelor enlisted quarters.

* Coronado Naval Amphibious Base improvements totaling $7.7 million.

* A new instruction building worth $4.36 million for the Coronado Surface Warfare Office.

* A $12.8-million firefighting-training facility at the San Diego Fleet Training Center.

* Family housing at Camp Pendleton costing $35.15 million.