Med clinic parking, main entrance to close Published Feb. 18, 2008 By Corey Dahl 21st Space Wing Public Affairs PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The medical clinic here has temporarily closed its main parking lot and entrance due to construction. As of Feb. 16, patients are no longer able to use the clinic's southeast parking lot or entrance. Instead, all customers must access the clinic from Vincent Street, just off Stewart Avenue. Parking is available in the northwest parking lot, and the former pediatrics entrance is now the clinic's temporary main entrance. Though there should still be ample parking available at the clinic and signs will be put up to help with any confusion, medical clinic officials are recommending patients leave a few minutes early for their appointments to allow time to navigate the new route, just in case. "I'm not so concerned with lack of parking. I'm more concerned about people finding their way into the facility," said Maj. Michelle Stephens, the project's manager. "We'll have signs posted directing where to go, but if they could come a little earlier, that would help." The lot's closure is part of $10 million in projects which will upgrade and modernize the medical clinic in the year ahead. Closing the lot allows crews to expand the clinic's foyer and build a new pharmacy. The lot itself, which will retain the same number of parking spots, will become more user-friendly. Additional landscaping and buffers will be added for both aesthetic and force protection reasons. "It's going to make it safer for the patients," said Thom O'Neill, medical facilities manager. "It'll also be more welcoming. It'll make the sick feel well about where they're coming to." Construction is scheduled for completion sometime around September. Until then, patients should make sure to tell clinic staff about any problems they encounter with the temporary parking and entrance situation, Major Stephens said. "If there's something we could do better, we'd like people to let us know," she said. "We have patient advocacy representatives they can talk to, and we can work on fixing any problems we hear about."