Construction continues on Columbia Point. Newsworthy advancements include the renaming of General Academic Building 1 and progress on the Utility Corridor and Roadway Relocation Project. Students may have noticed the scaffolding shifting across the Healey Library’s face. There is also word about plans for the Bayside property and future forms in the wake of the 2024 Boston Olympics bid fizzling out.
General Academic Building 1 was renamed University Hall. Construction Communications Manager Holly Sutherland says this was destined, as “GAB1 was just a place-holder name.” The building, located next to the Campus Center and the State Archives, is set to open next semester; something over 200 construction workers are laboring to make happen. Much of the effort right now goes into finishing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, outfitting the labs, and completing the exterior. Students can soon expect to see the makings of a ground-level walkway connecting the new building and the Campus Center.
Students can see the progress of another project, the Utility Corridor, as we weave through it on the shuttle bus. The cables lining the giant trenches are part of a new utility system, which will replace the existing 1970s substructure. A segment of the corridor was recently attached to University Hall, and now workers are testing its systems. Additionally, a new gas pipe along Bianculli Boulevard, near the Morrissey Boulevard campus entrance, is close to being finished.
Completion of the entire Utility Corridor and Reconstruction Roadway Project is scheduled for 2017. The latter half of the name refers to a new Northern gateway, two-way road, bike lanes, and tree lawns. The road encircling campus will be even closer to the water. In the immediate future, the work in front of Campus Center to replace the circular driveway with a single line will continue. 
You may have wondered about the scaffolding adorning the Healey Library. To install new roofing, railings, and waterproofing on the 11th floor, workers removed the walls of the parapets. They are predicted to be done with this by the end of the year.   
Recently, UMass Boston Chancellor J. Keith Motley and System President Marty Meehan spoke out in a Boston Globe article about the possibility of dorms, following the death of the 2024 Boston Olympics proposal. Organizers were in conversation with the university administration about replacing the Bayside building with an Athlete Village––the arrangement would leave the school with dorms once the Olympics were finished.
Dorms have always been a part of the Master Plan. UMass Boston intends to build one residence hall on the land in use as Parking Lot D, and hopes to build another near the Peninsula Apartments, where Parking Lot B was previously located. UMass Boston Director of Communications DeWayne Lehman says the Bayside building will be torn down so that a new parking garage can take its place.