Northeastern Rejects Alternative Sites for YMCA Dorm Project

Boston residents fed up with Northeastern University’s behind the historic YMCA on Huntington Avenue packed last week’s meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Commission to suggest alternative sites for the contentious project.

Under current plans, which have been approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the gymnasium located on St. Botolph Street at the rear of 316-320 Huntington Avenue would be partially demolished and then renovated into a new 17-story dorm that could house 720 students. PPC Land Ventures, Inc. is investing $75 million into the construction of the dorm, which Northeastern will then lease.

Residents and YMCA members have been fighting the proposed plan since its inception, arguing that the demolition of the historic building will negatively affect the character of the neighborhood while removing vital services from the Y.

In March, a letter from the Massachusetts Historical Commission found the project would have an “adverse effect” on the nearly 100-year old YMCA building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a local landmark.

“The size and scale of the new construction overwhelms the historic YMCA building and thus alters the setting of this historic property as viewed from multiple vantage points,” Executive Director Brona Simon wrote in the letter.

While the Commission does not have the power to halt the project, Northeastern University is required to cooperate with efforts to avoid, diminish or mitigate any adverse effects caused by the project, Simon said last week. That includes responding to suggestions of alternative sites for the project, many of which were submitted by concerned neighbors and members of the group Save the Boston Y.

Several suggestions supported building on sites already owned by Northeastern such as the Gainsborough Garage and Cullinane Hall site considered for development in 2006. South End resident James Cooper questioned why the large parking lot located behind Ruggles Station on Columbus Avenue had not been considered.

“That parking lot is one of the lowest used land areas in the entire South End area,” he said. “It is far and away the most prime spot for further dorms. They could be built without knocking anything down and still provide plenty of parking on the property.”

But Northeastern senior counsel Ralph Martin said plans were already underway to turn the lot into athletic fields.

”That site was examined and rejected by the community task force and approved as recreation fields,” he said. “Plans are underway to convert it into that use.” 

Martin also dismissed the Gainsborough Garage and Cullinane Hall sites as “infeasible” through a letter to the Commission dated June 29, citing “inadequate economic resources” and the “financial downturn.”

At last week’s meeting, Martin argued that switching the project’s location would not eliminate neighborhood concerns. 

“The irony of those suggestions is that were we to develop them as sites instead of participating in the development of the Y site we’d still be here today,” he said.

Through its current agreement with Northeastern, the YMCA plans to invest $10 million into the existing building, allowing it to upgrade services for members, according to YMCA Senior Vice President for Development and Communications Kelley Rice.

“There’s a ton of space in this building that sadly is under-utilized,” she said in February. “[After renovations] we will still retain close to 100,000 square feet.”

As part of the renovations, the building will finally become handicapped accessible and provide family friendly facilities, Rice said. 

But for many abutters, those benefits are outweighed by fear of deteriorating home values and dimishing neighborhood character.

“They are absorbing our neighborhoods building by building,” said Fenway resident Richard Orareo. “I believe [Northeastern] has the finances to do this on [their] own land by [its] own means.”

Demolition on the gymnasium was slated to begin in June, but remains held up by the MEC review. In an April letter to PPC Land Ventures, Simon claimed the developer had not made a "good faith effort" to explore project alternatives, extending the review process into July.