The parking garage adjacent to the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center was designed to become a focal point for student gatherings. Opened for business on November 9, 1971, the garage, designed to hold 238 cars, replaced a 90-car asphalt parking lot. Robert Church, dean of the School of Architecture, designed the garage, providing a plaza on the top for gatherings and bridges to the Hill. Wallace E. Goodwin, Contractors built the structure, which was delayed approximately a year by foundation problems, a ten-week Carpenters Union strike, and seven-week Plumbers Union strike.
The garage was designed with apertures to let light into the above-grade levels. Designers were aware that the ceiling height of 6.8 feet would prevent its conversion to other uses. Cost of the garage was $1.67 million. A ribbon-breaking ceremony for the garage was held to open the 1971 UT Appreciation Week, with President Boling, Chancellor Dykes, John Hart (president of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce), and Byrl Logan (chair of UT Appreciation Week) riding in two antique cars that broke the ribbon at the entrance.
The garage was razed in 2012 to allow construction of the first phase of the new student union building.