By Patrick McGroarty
Reporter Staff

Ongoing improvements to Dorchester's Red Line stations will reach a major milestone on Friday evening when MBTA construction crews begin demolition of the existing Ashmont station. Two years since the first renovation project began at Savin Hill station, Ashmont is the last station scheduled for redevelopment in a process that is scheduled to stretch into 2008.

On Tuesday morning, MBTA project manager Scott Kelley took the Reporter on a tour of the three Red Line stations currently under construction: Fields Corner, Shawmut, and Ashmont.

As pedestrians shuffled up the long ramp leading from Dorchester Avenue to the ramp of the Fields Corner T station, Kelley, project manager for the MBTA, skirted past a pile of debris and a construction crane before ducking into a cavernous space beneath the tracks.

"This is going to be the new lobby, ready around the first of January," Kelley said proudly. "Everybody used to have to walk all the way up the ramps. Now we're going to have two elevators and an escalator in here."

At the Fields Corner station, the dust and clutter of construction were already starting to give way to shiny new amenities."As people continue to use the station, they're going to see it getting nicer and nicer," said Kelley. "There's granite finish and stainless steel, and a new partial canopy for the platform."

Kelley also pointed to an esplanade and handicapped ramp leading into the new lobby from Charles Street. The recently landscaped entrance won't be open until January 1, when the Automated Fare System already in use at the JFK/UMass and Savin Hill stations is set to open in Fields Corner.

Asked on Monday if he had any concerns with the progress at the station, Fields Corner Civic Association President Tom Gannon said the association had stressed that they didn't want the small parking lot adjacent to the station open to unregulated public parking. Lydia Rivera, spokeswoman for the MBTA, said on Tuesday afternoon that will not be the case.

"It might be used for employee parking, or it might be closed completely," said Rivera.

At the Shawmut station in Melville Park, scheduled for completion sometime this fall, a freshly paved concourse covers the long platform that lies beneath it. Last week, Melville Park resident Ann Kleindorfer called the Reporter frustrated that heavy rainfall had caused puddles to form along the lengthy sidewalk and left unsightly patterns on the fresh concrete.

Kelley said the markings were most likely caused by burlap sacks placed over the fresh concrete during construction, and would wear away in time.

"We added two drains to the original design, and the bricks act as a trench," said Kelley, pointing to a strip of red bricks that runs the length of the sidewalk. "With the rain we've had in the past year, everywhere has puddles."

Kleindorfer said she was also frustrated about the quality of restorations inside the aging Shawmut station, where exposed beams and narrow stairs seemed rehashed rather than replaced.

"I'm upset about the beams in the station," said Kleindorfer. "Their idea of modernization is putting a layer of paint over things. They can do a fine job. I've seen it at the stations downtown. I feel like I'm left with the scraps here."

Kelley explained on Tuesday that the Shawmut project was particularly challenging because the community had lobbied to preserve the original station house, which dates roughly to the 1920s. As MBTA crews worked to install modern windows, doors, and lights on the small structure, the integrity of the building became a serious problem.

"While we were doing the addition, the original building was literally crumbling apart under us," said Kelley. Devoting some extra tender love and care to the station cost the project some time, but Kleindorfer said the station should be ready for a grand opening by the fall.

Inside the station, Kelley pointed out 24 patches carved out of the existing tile wall, which will eventually be lined with subway maps and artistic murals. All the stations currently being refurbished will feature art chosen by the local community. The process to commission and install those pieces is at various stages at each of the three stations.

At Ashmont, construction workers were preparing for the big show: Starting at 9 p.m. on Friday evening, the existing station will be demolished to make way for a new station, trolley turn-around, a private development project spearheaded by Trinity Financial, and improvements to Peabody Square funded by the city of Boston.

"I'm glad to see that work is really getting underway, although it's a little bit of a mixed blessing," said Chris Douglass, owner of the Ashmont Grill. "I was a little concerned about what it's going to be like during the project." Despite the headaches the lengthy construction project will create, Douglass said he believes the sweeping Ashmont/Peabody Square improvement project will be a major boon for the neighborhood. "It's one of the reasons I felt confident in this location for my new restaurant."

Vince Droser, project manager for Trinity Financial, said that his company was in the process of completing a temporary busway along Dorchester Avenue, after which construction on the development would begin in earnest.

"Hopefully we'll be rolling by early to mid-September," he said.

Ashmont resident Bill Richard said that both Trinity and the MBTA have made a concerted effort to keep the community informed, and that his only concern was that the two projects would be able to move forward simultaneously.

"I hope they have their schedules lined up so they don't work in opposition to each other. Over the next few months it's going to get noisy, but we're very happy with the way things have been handled."

Walking away from the Ashmont site, Kelley said he was confident the two developers would be able to co-exist.

"We'll help them out when we can, and they'll help us out when they can," said Kelley. "This place is going to look completely different when we're through."