SHOW ME CENTER TO CHANGE SYSTEM FOR PARKING FEES

Show Me Center officials have implemented a new method of collecting parking fees in an effort to reduce traffic congestion on streets leading to the arena's parking areas.

Instead of collecting a parking fee at the entrances to the parking areas during major events, a 50-cent fee will be added to the price of each ticket.

The new "facility fee" will replace the current parking charge and help offset the needed parking lot maintenance and building sealing work that will be done this spring, said David Ross, Show Me Center director.

For selected events that do not utilize pre-printed tickets at the door for admission or are not suitable for a facility charge, a $2 parking fee will be collected at the parking lot entrances.

"We are responding to suggestions made to us by the public," said Ross. "We hope that by allowing cars to enter the parking lots without having to stop to pay a fee, traffic will flow much more smoothly into available lots and make attending events a much more convenient and enjoyable experience for our patrons.

"Our traffic patterns for entertainment events should begin to resemble the ingress patterns that we have for basketball games," he said.