When Boston University students return in the fall, they will find new buildings – including one for Hillel House and another for graduate student housing – open and ready for use and other current construction projects entering their finishing stages, according to BU officials.
Over the last year, students have witnessed massive construction in Kenmore Square, coped with blocked sidewalks and closed streets and awakened many a time to the sound of hammering, trucks backing up and power tools whirring.
Boston University is in the process of getting a facelift.
BU spokesman Colin Riley said all of the construction around campus is designed to improve the quality of BU’s facilities and provide “appropriate housing” for the BU community.
THE RESIDENCES
A new graduate student housing building at 580 Commonwealth Ave. will be available for housing in the fall of 2004 and will consist of 220 units, mainly studio apartments, and a ground-level Italian café, according to an April 9 newsletter from Provost Dennis Berkey.
Riley insisted that the new housing will be used only for graduate students – not as extra housing for undergraduates – because the housing was needed to satisfy increased demand for graduate student housing. BU does not currently offer any dormitory-style housing for graduate students.
CAS sophomore Danielle Carr praised the university’s plan of focusing on big projects before beginning new ones.
“It is better to finish the construction we have on campus than to start more,” Carr said. “This will allow the graduates to live on campus without taking [on-campus] housing from the undergraduates who are guaranteed four years of housing.”
In addition to construction on the graduate housing, the university will also be making improvements in Warren Towers. According to Riley, crews will be working on Warren’s escalators, elevators and dining hall.
“The elevators need to be renovated because they get stuck all the time, especially the [Marshall, or ‘B,’] Tower elevators,” said College of Engineering freshman Paul Sole, who lives on the 12th floor of Shields, or “C,” Tower.
Unlike previous years, no plans have been made to renovate brownstones around campus, Riley said. He added that the main focus of construction on the residences will be maintenance and improvements “as necessary.”
The new Hillel House, the only construction on Bay State Road scheduled for the summer, is planned be open when students come back. The Hillel construction is a separate project from the other university construction because Hillel is paying for the project itself, Riley said.
Construction on West Campus housing has centered on the John Hancock Student Village – focusing primarily on Agganis Arena and the new Fitness and Recreation Center in the Village. The recreation center will be available for student use early next year and the Arena, which many students said is more exciting than any other project, will open in early 2005, Riley said.
The arena will contain seating for 6,300 people for hockey games and more than 7,000 people for shows and events not involving the ice. In addition to regular seating, 29 “Loge Suites and Premium Seats” will be available, according to the website.
THE ACADEMIC BUILDINGS
“It was so cool in the fall during the [baseball] playoffs when we could actually see into [Fenway] park,” said College of Communication freshman Karen Rosenberg, who lives in Warren Towers. “We couldn’t see a lot, just a little part of the field that no one ever really went to, but it was still exciting. Now that big white thing [the new Life Science and Engineering Building] is there and we can’t see anything anymore – it’s kind of annoying.”
Construction on the new Life Science and Engineering Building, a new facility designed for the study of biomedical engineering, molecular biology, neurobiology, biochemistry, organic chemistry and bioinformatics, is progressing quickly, according to BU officials.
According to the construction project’s website, the sheeting component of the building was completed in half of the scheduled time and in July crews will bring in a 400-foot crane to install the building’s steel frame and windows.
The structure is being built on the site of the former Nickelodeon Theater between Cummington Street and the Massachusetts Turnpike and is expected to be ready for student use during the “second quarter 2005,” according to the website.
“It is pretty exciting because it is a biomed thing, which is my concentration,” College of Engineering freshman Rakesh Patel said. “This makes this school a top biomed school in the country.”
BU also received an additional boost to their biomedical program this year when the Boston University Medical Center was chosen as the site for a new National Biocontainment Laboratory. BU received a $120 million grant to build the facility from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to a NIAID press release.
Construction is scheduled to begin this year and the facility is should be completed in 2007. The building will be built on the medical campus’ “BioSquare” and will consist of 13 laboratories with some of the most sophisticated equipment, according to the press release.
“I am not nervous about it because I feel like they are going to keep it controlled and under wraps – they aren’t going to be throwing anthrax around,” CAS freshman Linda Adami said. “It will be good for the school because it will bring in jobs and money and we will be able to use the money for programs that are important to us.”
Riley said that the new space “is going to meet the demands of increased research activities.”
“We are excited about all of our [construction] projects,” Riley said. “We are thrilled that the recreation center and life sciences buildings are coming together so well.”
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