About

App State’s Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck offers 600 parking stalls, increasing the number of Boone campus parking spaces available for faculty, staff and students by 460 from the former surface lot on which it stands. The primary use for the new deck is for faculty, staff and student parking, with event parking as needed. App State university has the flexibility to offer visitor parking in select lots as needed upon demand. The additional parking also supports events at the App State’s Holmes Center as well as the 30,000-seat Kidd Brewer multipurpose stadium that is about a half-mile away.

The deck replaces the former Holmes surface parking lot and is located adjacent to the Holmes Center’s Northwest and Southwest entrances. A covered pedestrian bridge is available from the deck’s second level, which connects to the paved concourse area outside the center’s Southwest entrance.

At 200,840 square feet, which includes 48,830 square feet of academic space, the Holmes Convocation Center is a multipurpose facility that hosts varsity sports and major campus events, including commencement, guest speaker series and the STEAM Expo. The center also houses the Beaver College of Health Sciences’ Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education. The venue, which opened in fall 2000, can seat between 8,500 and 9,313 individuals, depending on the seating configuration used.

During the height of the pandemic, the center served as the site of numerous App State COVID-19 vaccine clinics, with 680 students, faculty, staff and community members receiving the vaccine during the first clinic in March 2021.

The facility is named in honor of alumnus George M. Holmes ’54 (1929–2009), who attended the university when it was known as Appalachian State Teachers College. While serving as a state representative, Holmes was a staunch advocate for App State and helped secure the additional funding needed to build the convocation center.

The long-envisioned Holmes Drive Parking Deck project has been included in App State’s master planning since 2016 (Master Plan 2025, page 71).

Learn more about the history of App State’s Holmes Convocation Center.

App State Interim Chancellor Heather Norris, center, cuts the ribbon on the university’s Holmes Drive Parking Deck on Aug. 22, 2024. The deck, located at App State’s Boone campus, features 600 parking spaces and opened to parking permit holders on Aug. 16. Pictured with Norris, from left to right, are Amber Smith, marketing manager at New Atlantic Contracting; New Atlantic intern Caden Young, an App State junior building sciences major from Winston-Salem; Tripp Smith, senior project manager at New Atlantic; New Atlantic intern James Poe, an App State junior building sciences major from Winston-Salem; Joey Rowland, sales and business development representative at the Tindall Corporation; Jeff Pierce, director of App State Planning, Design and Construction; Chris Zananiri, vice president of operations at New Atlantic; Nick Katers, App State associate vice chancellor of facilities management; Hank Foreman, App State vice chancellor of external affairs and strategic initiatives and chief of staff; Thomas Carlson-Redding, community practice leader at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting; UNC System Board of Governors member C. Philip Byers; Sun Breza, western area manager at Engineering Consulting Services; Stephen Robey, senior electrical engineer at CMTA Inc.; John Morrison, president of New Atlantic; Daniel Jones, project engineer at Dewberry Engineers; J.J. Brown; App State vice chancellor of student affairs; Steve Tabor, construction superintendent at New Atlantic; Neva Specht, App State acting provost; Bronald Johnson, senior associate at Little Diversified; Jason Parker, director of App State’s Holmes Convocation Center; and Randy Jones, project manager in App State Planning, Design and Construction. Photo by Kyla Willoughby

App State juniors James Poe, second from left, and Caden Young, third from right — both App State building sciences majors from Winston-Salem — are pictured with App State Interim Chancellor Heather Norris, third from left, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs J.J. Brown, far left, and Acting Vice Provost Neva Specht at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the university’s new Holmes Drive Parking Deck, held Aug. 22, 2024, at the Boone campus. Poe and Young are both interns at New Atlantic Contracting, which, in partnership with Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, designed and built the deck. Photo by Kyla Willoughby

App State Interim Chancellor Heather Norris gives remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for App State’s Holmes Drive Parking Deck, held Aug. 22, 2024, at the Boone campus. The deck opened to parking permit holders on Aug. 16. Photo by Kyla Willoughby

App State's Holmes Drive Parking Deck opened to parking permit holders on Aug. 16, 2024. An official ribbon-cutting for the new facility is scheduled for Aug. 22, 2024. This aerial image of the deck was taken Aug. 13, 2024. Photo by Wes Craig

An aerial view of the covered pedestrian bridge that connects the second level of the Holmes Drive Parking Deck to the paved concourse area outside the Holmes Convocation Center’s Southwest entrance. Photo by Wes Craig

An aerial view of the Holmes Drive Parking Deck at App State's Boone campus, which will open to parking permit holders on Aug. 16, 2024. An official ribbon-cutting for the new facility is scheduled for Aug. 22, 2024. This image was taken July 15, 2024. Click on the image for a full view. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

The pedestrian bridge that connects the parking deck’s second level to the paved concourse area outside the Holmes Convocation Center’s Southwest entrance is visible near the top center of this image, taken July 15, 2024. The Holmes Drive Parking Deck will be open for the fall 2024 semester. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

The Holmes Drive Parking Deck project at App State's Boone campus is nearly finished, with the deck scheduled to open this summer. Construction progress on the facility, as of June 19, 2024, is shown in this aerial photo. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction of the Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck at App State's Boone campus is nearly completed, with the facility scheduled to open in summer 2024. This aerial image of the facility was taken May 16, 2024. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

This May 2024 photo shows an interior view of the pedestrian bridge that is under construction as part of App State’s Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck. Photo submitted

Construction of the Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck at App State's Boone campus continues on schedule, as shown in this photo taken April 23, 2024. The deck's pedestrian bridge, which will connect the second level to the convocation center's Southwest concourse area, is visible near the center of the image. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

All 508 precast concrete structures that form App State's Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck have been placed, and construction of the deck's pedestrian bridge is underway. The new deck is pictured March 12, 2024. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

This aerial image, taken March 12, 2024, shows construction progress on App State's Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck, located on the Boone campus. The deck is scheduled for completion in summer 2024. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction of the Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck at App State continues on schedule, as shown in this aerial photo taken Feb. 20, 2024. A topping out ceremony for the placement of the new deck's final beam will be held Feb. 22, 2024. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction of App State's Holmes Drive Parking Deck continues on schedule and is slated for completion by fall 2024. A stairway on the side of the deck that faces Holmes Convocation Center is visible in this aerial image, taken Jan. 30, 2024. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction progress on the Holmes Drive Parking Deck is shown in this aerial image, taken Jan. 30, 2024. App State's Holmes Convocation Center is visible at left. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

This aerial photo, taken Dec. 6, 2023, shows the construction progress on App State's Holmes Drive Parking Deck. A large crane is pictured lowering one of the deck's precast concrete structures into place. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction progress on App State's Holmes Drive Parking Deck, as of Nov. 30, 2023. Work continues to install the deck's precast concrete structures. The deck, once completed, will provide approximately 600 parking spaces. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction work continues and is on schedule for the Holmes Drive Parking Deck located at App State's Boone campus. The university's Holmes Convocation Center is visible at left of the deck in this aerial photo, taken Nov. 30, 2023. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction continues for App State’s Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck, located on the Boone campus, as shown in this aerial image taken Oct. 26, 2023. Installation of precast concrete structures for the deck’s walls began in late October 2023. Photo by Wes Craig

This aerial image, taken Sept. 1, 2023, shows construction progress on the Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck at App State's Boone campus. Photo by Chase Reynolds

Construction of the new parking deck adjacent to App State's Holmes Convocation Center is underway, as shown in this aerial photo taken July 11, 2023. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

Construction work is underway for App State's Holmes Convocation Center Parking Deck, as shown in this aerial photo taken July 11, 2023. Once completed, the new deck will offer approximately 600 on-campus parking spaces. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds

An aerial view of App State’s Holmes Convocation Center, located at the intersection of Rivers Street and U.S. Highway 231. Photo by Marie Freeman

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This artist’s rendering, offering a vantage point from Hill Street, shows what the completed Holmes Drive Parking Deck might look like. Graphic provided by New Atlantic and Little Diversified Architectural Consulting

This conceptual rendering, created by architecture firm Lord Aeck Sargent, shows the proposed location of the Holmes Drive Parking Deck — adjacent to the Holmes Convocation Center’s Northwest and Southwest entrances, in the area where the building’s current surface parking lot exists. Graphic provided by Lord Aeck Sargent

Status

The Holmes Drive Parking Deck opened for parking permit holders on Aug. 16, 2024, and a ribbon-cutting for the new deck took place Aug. 22, 2024. App State received occupancy certification for the deck on Aug. 12, 2024, and the new deck was opened the following day, to accommodate the parking needs of students and their families, as well as App State faculty and staff, during fall 2024 move-in week.

In March 2022, App State’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion to build the Holmes Drive Parking Deck, and the project received approval from the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors at the board’s May 26, 2022, meeting.

Planning and design for the project began in spring 2022 and concluded in spring 2023. Architecture firm Lord Aeck Sargent performed a conceptual design study for the project, which was completed in June 2022, and App State selected New Atlantic and Little Diversified Architectural Consulting to design and build the deck, breaking ground on the project the week of June 12, 2023.

A topping out ceremony for the deck was held Feb. 22, 2024. A centuries-old tradition, a topping out involves placing the final structural beam of a building’s frame to signify that the project has reached its highest point without loss of life or injury.

How is it funded?

On June 29, 2022, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed bipartisan House Bill 1068 into law, allowing App State to issue special obligation bonds for up to $20 million to fund construction of the Holmes Drive Parking Deck. The university will use parking revenues to repay the bonds.

An additional $1.7 million in support comes from the university’s Transportation and Parking Reserves fund.

Who will benefit?

The parking deck supports daily campus parking as well as parking for athletics and other university events, which attract hundreds to thousands of visitors to campus. The entire App State Community — including students, faculty and staff, along with alumni, campus guests and community members — benefits from this project.

How does it support UNC System Goals and Metrics?

An enhanced campus designed with students, faculty, staff and the public in mind supports recruitment and retention of all members of the university and local communities.