Concord Academy is abuzz with frustration as the school announced tuition will be raised, again, by 5,000 dollars—this time to buy one row of the Keyes Road Lots for student parking. This is a direct response to the parking catastrophe caused by the construction of the new Centennial Arts Center (CAC), which left students enraged at the demolition of once-abundant parking.
Today, CA students’ cars can be found all along Main Street, Academy Lane, and Middle Street. It is extremely common to see parking tickets left on their dashboards. When asked about her opinions regarding the current parking situation, Averie Lee ’26 stated, “It’s awful. I spend more time searching for parking than actually driving here. I leave half an hour early and somehow I still end up having to sprint into chapel late.” It is clear students are not happy with the current situation and frustrations are ever rising. However, as many students pointed out, the Keyes Road Lot is not looking like a great answer.
The Keyes Road Lot is approximately a 6 minute walk away from CA, with an additional 4 minutes if New England winter weather decides to ice the sidewalks. The first row of the lot, which CA has bought with our money, fits 15 cars. There are around 50 students who drive to school daily. Insider sources say there are already deals being struck up amongst students for parking spots, and a black-market seems all but inevitable.
With the noticeable bump in tuition resulting in only a slightly helpful new parking addition, the soon-to-be solution is already causing unrest. When asked about the tuition-raise and new parking solution, Juliana Katzenstein ‘26 said “At this point, I’m just going to try and become best friends with someone who lives on Academy Lane and hijack their driveway every morning.”
Following the parking fiasco caused by the CAC, many students have spoken out about their anger towards the parking situation. While CA has stated that they are looking for the best options for students, it seems there is a little chance this original plan will not go through. Many feel that if CA really wants to put an end to this crisis, a more comprehensive solution must be found.