Since 2007, the University of Massachusetts Boston has been busy with the ongoing Construction Master Plan project. In 2009, UMass Boston officially signed off on the Master Plan with the objective to improve students’ on-campus life.
The plan shared its visions of “green facilities, flexibility,” and the university’s contemporary architectural design in “blending with natural surroundings.” It has also been a project to reinvent campus buildings dating back to the 1970s.
The first phase of the Master Plan (set in a time frame from 2008 to 2017) was to renovate academic buildings, build new buildings like University Hall, the Utility Corridor, the Roadway Relocation (a commuter route to the Campus Center), and general Harborwalk improvements. The Mass Media sat with Holly Sutherland, UMass Boston’s Construction and Master Plan Communication Manager, to talk about the progress of these projects. “There are going to be big changes in the fall” said Sutherland.
General construction on the Utility Corridor will involve relocating campus utilities from older buildings to a newer well-structured corridor. According to Dewayne Lehman, UMass Boston’s Director of Communications, the infrastructure of utilities were so poorly built that the parking garages had to be completely shut down in 2006. The Utility Corridor project is now expected to be completed in late 2018.
The Roadway Relocation project, which includes the Campus Center’s drop-off location, has been under construction this summer. Entryways will be completed by the beginning of the fall 2017 semester with September 1 as the target date for completion. However, according to Sutherland, there will be “bits and pieces” that will need to take a little longer.
As part of their Master Plan, the university is thinking about implementing poles to finish the project. The Campus Center’s front entrance area is now strictly a bus-way. “There will be no stopping in front of the Campus Center anymore” said Sutherland. The new busway will be on the sidewalk parallel to the Campus Center, where buses will be available for pick up and drop off.
To make commuting to campus more flexible, the Master Plan is implementing a new pickup and drop off for Lyft, Uber, or other private vehicles behind both the Integrated Sciences Complex building and behind the Campus Center, near the Atrium Cafe and University Hall.
On August 3, the last beam was added to the new residence halls on campus. Lehman, in an interview, shared his thoughts: “One of the really cool things about the residence halls is that they are essentially on the water.”
A public-private partnership allowed for the construction project to take place. According to Sutherland, the Capstone Development Partners, a nationally recognized firm that specializes in campus and student housing, has also been the University’s contractor for several building projects.
The Capstone Development Partners have placed a webcam over the rink to oversee and keep track of the construction. The link to the webcam is now available for all students and readers to see on the UMass Boston website.
According to Sutherland, most of the dorm rooms will have a view of the Boston Harbor. In the fall of 2018, the first floor of the residence hall will be completed and will be home to a lounge area. This will include dining options and will be available to all UMass Boston students, not just residents of the dorms.
The Mass Media has been shown what the interior space of an average dorm room will look like and the link is now available here for students, faculty, and viewer to see here: https://assets.adobe.com/link/0d989027-fcb9-43a9-675d-6fdee544e113