OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A four-level parking garage with hundreds of spaces and a rooftop sports area is set to open Friday at a base where parking space is always at a premium.

The $4 million, 350-space garage comes with a pedestrian bridge that allows people to cross Songtan Boulevard — the base’s main road — to the grounds of Osan American School.

Twelve spaces are reserved for handicapped motorists.

"This will open up many more parking spaces," said Master Sgt. Matthew L. Summers, an Osan spokesman. Osan has 10,000 vehicles registered, a figure that doesn’t include those driven by the base’s South Korean air force personnel.

On its top level the garage has four tennis courts, a volleyball court and a 250-meter oval running track, which are open to the entire base. But Osan American High School will get priority use of the tennis courts for practice and competitions.

The garage’s first floor is for patrons who use the nearby commissary. The second floor is open to the general public.

The third is for teacher parking and student drop off. The pedestrian bridge is at the third floor.

Yojin Industrial Company Ltd. built the garage and bridge under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Construction began in September 2007.

Summers said the garage will give commissary patrons a break. The garage is built on the former site of the commissary’s main parking area and has left customers with "minimal" parking until now, he said.

But the school benefits directly too, he said, especially teachers and staff whose former parking area is now the site of a middle school under construction.

Moreover, Summers said the garage will help ease the parking scarcity to "just the general population Osan."