Kenmore T entrance to move to hotel

Kenmore Square will be seeing some changes this month as the two street entrances to the Kenmore T station will be removed from their current spots and placed inside Hotel Commonwealth, according to hotel Managing Director Tim Kirwan.

“The entrance is located in the building, but there will be no access internally to the hotel or the retail space. In other words, the subway exit and entrance leads to the sidewalk,” said hotel spokeswoman Didi Lutz in an email.

Kirwan said he expects work on the station to begin as soon as this week. The hotel will also begin building 10 stores on its premises and designing the second of its ground-level restaurants – an outdoor café on Commonwealth Avenue.

Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said commuters will still be able to access the station from Beacon Street and the center bus terminal.

Rivera could not confirm the cost of construction or who is paying for it, but he said the project has been an ongoing private development between the hotel, local businesses and Boston University.

Kirwan said the hotel does not foresee the station move disturbing its guests by potentially attracting loiterers, musicians or homeless people by moving the station entrance a little closer to home.

“We have had two entrances, which haven’t been particularly problematic, but if there’s something inappropriate, our excellent security will take care of it,” he said.

Officials planning the larger Commonwealth Avenue renovation project said they are aware of the MBTA’s Kenmore plans and are looking to coordinate construction to bring unity to the area and minimize disruptions.

“We can’t have all construction happening at the same location or we’ll have gridlock,” said Para Jayasinghe, the city engineer in charge of the Commonwealth Avenue renovation project.