Boston University hopes to commence renovation on the Myles Standish Hall and Myles Annex in May. The Myles Standish Hall and Annex Renovation Project, if approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is scheduled to finish by August 2018, BU Executive Director for Auxiliary Service Marc Robillard said.
A public meeting was was held Jan. 13 at the Rafik B. Hariri Building, where the BRA discussed the matter with those who live in the Allston and Fenway neighborhoods.
The university plans to finish reparation in three phases over 30 months, according to the Project Notification Form submitted to the BRA Dec. 11, 2015. The construction plan will allow half of the students housed in Myles and the Annex to remain in place throughout construction period while the approximately 350 displaced students will be provided temporary housing, the PNF stated.
“Myles’ residence will occupy the east section of the building for the first phase while we work on the west section of the building,” Robillard said. “Then in the 2017-18 academic year, we will work on the east section while students are living in the brand new west section of the building.”
In addition to installing an air conditioning system and three more elevators, the university plans to reconstruct both the interior and exterior of the building’s first floor, Robillard said.
The university submitted its 186-page long PNF to the BRA, but construction still needs the BRA’s approval to start, BRA project manager Katelyn Sullivan wrote in an email.
“The BRA is currently in the process of reviewing BU’s Project Notification Form[,] submitted pursuant to Article 80B Large Project Review for the Myles Standish Hall and Annex Renovation Project,” Sullivan wrote.
According to the BRA’s aforementioned article, the process is comprised of four steps that require months of “public comment periods” and meetings. The project is currently in the middle of step one, Sullivan wrote.
Construction of the Annex and Myles began in 1920 and 1926, respectively, Robillard said. BU acquired Myles in 1949, and “very little has been done to the building since then.” Therefore, the buildings were not designed to host the needs of modern-day college students.
“The building is functionally obsolete,” he said. “The way the rooms lay out is really deductive to today’s college student. There is no privacy. Most people [have] to walk through somebody else’s room to get to the bathroom within the suite. We just want to make it a comfortable place for people to live.”
Another reason to reconstruct the outside wall of Myles and Annex is that it is becoming increasingly dangerous for pedestrians, Robillard said.
“The outside façade has deteriorated to a point where most of it has to be replaced,” he said. “[The university has] to spend a lot of time and money on fixing the outside of the wall.”
Although it is unknown when the BRA will approve of the university’s plan, BU students are looking forward to seeing the result of the renovation.
Chuhong Shentu, a sophomore in College of Arts and Sciences, said she is excited to see more university dormitories with air conditioning.
“I’m glad that Myles will get air conditioning after the renovation,” Shentu said. “It gets so hot in the summer that people are not even able to sleep.”
Raquel Sandoval, also a sophomore in CAS, said she currently lives in Myles and cannot wait to see the changes.
“Myles is a pretty old-ish building,” Sandoval said. “Sometimes the layout of the room is not convenient because people who share a suite have to go through someone’s room to go to the bathroom. That’s extremely annoying.”
Kyle Radtke, a freshman in the College of Engineering, said Myles was his second choice when he was applying for housing, and he is excited to see changes made.
“The renovation is pretty cool,” Radtke said. “I heard the Myles building was a luxury hotel in the 1920s, but everything needs to be renovated after so many years.”
