UMass reviews master plan; Science Center demo, quad construction on tap

A slide from a UMass Boston presentation shows details of work expected to begin soon.

UMass Boston is nearing completion on its utility corridor and expects to begin construction on its grassy quad this winter, according to a presentation shown during a Nov. 8 meeting on the campus. The meeting was intended to update the public on the 25-Year Campus Master Plan, which began in 2006.

“The first phase is now near completion and has been the driver of much of the campus construction over the past ten years,” said DeWayne Lehman, a UMass Boston spokesperson. “Throughout this phase of construction there has been regular engagement with elected officials, the surrounding Boston communities, the city, and campus stakeholders... We will continue this open and inclusive process going forward.”

An ongoing Utility Corridor and Roadway Relocation project, meant to address the university’s perimeter landscape and transportation plan, with multi-modal pathways and green space, should wrap up before the year’s end. Given the coastal campus’s vulnerability to weather and flooding, a presentation slide noted, “stormwater management will include bio-retention areas that become part of the campus landscape and include native plantings.”

Other ongoing projects on the campus include elevator replacements, repairs to the outside of existing buildings and loading docks, and interim substructure stabilization. Critical repair and deferred maintenance projects like doors, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work will take place over the next five years.

After a Boston Globe report found numerous instances of problems with the recently completed dormitories, interim chancellor Katherine Newman released a statement decrying the “unacceptable conditions related to security, construction problems, and food service quality in the new residence halls.”

Increased security was implemented at the halls in mid-November, and residents were reminded of policies forbidding substances like drugs and alcohol on the premises. Newman said Capstone, the building owner, is reviewing and addressing problems regarding elevators, utilities, and other infrastructure issues.

“Big building complexes develop problems,” Newman said. “We have to expect them from time to time, but we also have to be assured they will be resolved.”

Former interim chancellor Barry Mills announced in early 2018 that a new plan for repairing the substructure would still involve demolishing the original Science Center, plaza, and pool, “creating an elaborately landscaped, four-acre campus quad,” but with adjustments to save on costs.

The Columbia Point campus expects to vacate the old Science Center by this coming summer, university officials said, as the transition continues into the Integrated Sciences Center. Construction on the quadrangle project is slated to begin next month and will likely be a three-year project.

“A number of departments, programs, faculty, and staff currently remain in the Science Center,” according to the presentation, which noted that “the university is designing renovations in original campus buildings, to relocate the occupants and functions to enable the Science Center’s demolition.”

The final part of the presentation focused on the former Bayside Expo site, a 20-acre UMass-owned property that was fully demolished in 2016 and is now serving as a swing space for parking. It was briefly considered as the potential site of a Robert Kraft-controlled sports stadium, until talks between Kraft and UMass ended in April 2017.

“When UMass was being talked about as a stadium — and I don’t know how real that was. That seemed like a balloon that was just floated out there,” City Councillor Frank Baker said in an interview last week. “But now, because of that we’re actually at point where they have educated themselves on the Master Plan. They know about how neighborhoods around UMass are stuck where they are. We live closer than anybody to the water and can’t get to the water.”

The master plan itself, Baker notes, “is a good jumping off point” for the village that did envision some height and density. While UMass “wasn’t in the mix” at the time, he said, the connections the plan called for are still relevant.

Sixteen potential developers responded to a university call for offers in April 2018, and the campus still expects an announcement of their selected development partner before the year’s end. “Development concepts will include community input through a separate process,” the presentation noted.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that a new Science Center was being constructed. The Science Center is being replaced with a grassy quad, as the university has a new Integrated Sciences Complex. We regret the error.


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