The Wat Promwachirayan Buddhist temple aims to undergo construction on the parking lot in the near future, according to Dee Noree, the president of the temple.

“Right now we have just 80 spots. We are looking forward to having about 200 parking stalls,” Noree said. “(We will) most likely begin construction in early spring next year.”

Noree said the temple hopes to continue the construction in years to come in several phases.

“After the first phase is done, we will again do fundraising to try to continue the second phase,” Noree said. “This will be our new service hall. The third phase will be a new meditation hall, but that’s years from now.”

The reason for the construction is due to the large size of their community and the lack of space to accommodate the entire congregation, Noree said.

“At most of the events we gather roughly about 200 to 300 people,” Noree said. “Some even (have gathered) about a thousand people, so that’s why we need to expand the parking lot.”

Senior Savannah Romero said she agrees that the construction is necessary to make it possible for everyone to stay involved in the community.

“I feel that’s a good idea because they should have the amount of space needed to keep everyone included,” Romero said. “They shouldn’t feel like they don’t have the right amount of space.”

The temple has a very small budget and in order for them to do construction, they must fundraise for much of the cost, Noree said.

“We have a really limited budget, so to cover operating costs, we (rely) on fundraising. That’s why we have many events,” Noree said. “The majority of it is from the Sunday market. We can do it only when the weather is supportive, during really late spring and early fall.”

Romero said she is glad the temple is in her neighborhood, as it contributes diversity and different traditions to the area.

“It brings multiple different cultures to the neighborhood, so it’s not just one type of culture and one type of family in the neighborhood,” Romero said. “It brings a lot of different people and brings the community together and makes a more inclusive community.”

According to Noree, in order for the construction to begin, the temple had to meet with the neighborhood association to make sure the temple’s neighbors were in agreement with the future plans.

“We have been working with them,” Noree said. “We have come to the conclusion that we will have a fence and increase (the distance) from Vernon Street.”

The Wat Promwachirayan plans to begin construction on the parking lot in early spring of 2019.