Western will be hosting the men and women’s basketball Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the second year in a row.

And for the second consecutive year, parking will be adjusted on campus.

During the tournament, March 6 to March 9, the commuter levels of the parking lot will be used for conference patron parking.

Commuter students with C permits can park on parking structure levels two through four.

The B permit parking levels will remain open to campus residents.

“Students with residential permits will not be turned from it,” said Karl Laves, co-chair of the the parking and transportation committee.

It is a change from last year, when the entire structure was used for tournament parking.

Last year, students with B permits were allowed to remain in their spots if they’d parked there before the tournament began, he said.

But students weren’t allowed to return to the structure once they left it.

Tournament fans will be allowed to park in B level spots if they are open.

One reason for keeping the structure open to residents this year is the availability of other lots.

“We gained additional parking in SKyPAC and Creason,” Laves said.

Diddle lot will be reserved for media, staff and spectators. Some spots in the South Lawn lot will also be used for the tournament.

Owensboro freshman Beverly Howard said she doesn’t think there would be any additional parking problems this weekend.

“I think it will work out as long as people are patient,” she said. “As long as people compromise, it will work.”

She said she was willing to sacrifice her parking spots for the revenue the school will receive from Sun Belt fans.

“I’d rather have a lot of people come to the game and make money off them,” Howard said.

Another reason some students aren’t worried about the parking is because spots will be available after Sun Belt fans have left for the day.

“The tournament is only a couple hours, so there will be spots when you get back,” said Alvin Futrell, a sophomore from Hendersonville, Tenn. “People can find other places to park for a couple of days.”

Reach Beth Wilberding at [email protected]