Back Bay Station Concourse Renovation Project

[stick n move]

-Couldnt find a dedicated thread for this, but construction is starting soon.

Project Announcement - June 10, 2025​

“Hello,

We are excited to announce the start of the Back Bay Station Concourse Renovation Project! Beginning this summer, Back Bay Station will undergo a major revitalization, with significant improvements to the concourse level. Benefits to Back Bay Station users include:

- Increased pedestrian flow though the concourse level

- Better accommodation for passengers waiting for trains on the concourse level

- New lighting and audio equipment to improve and modernize the station’s interior

- Improvements to signage and wayfinding

- New retail opportunities for MBTA riders and the community”

CONSTRUCTION PHASES​

“Construction will be completed in phases so that access to the Orange Line, Commuter Rail, Amtrak, and bus services can be maintained at all times. The project is expected to last through Spring 2027. Each phase will target different areas of the station.

• The Enabling Phase, which begins this month, will involve establishing work zones, building electrical infrastructure, and delivering steel. Crews will also be constructing a new bike cage outside at the Clarendon Street entrance of the station.

• Phase 1 is scheduled to begin in November 2025, and will focus on the center and east side of the station concourse, along with the exterior structure adjacent to Clarendon Street.

• Phase 2, which is scheduled to begin in July 2026, will focus on the west side of the station and the exterior structure adjacent to Dartmouth Street.”

Back Bay Station Concourse Renovation Project

Back Bay Station Concourse Renovation Project A revitalization of Back Bay Station with a complete concourse-level renovation and new retail uses.

www.backbaystationrenovations.com

Project Updates — Back Bay Station Concourse Renovation Project

www.backbaystationrenovations.com

Back Bay Station Improvements | Projects | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

 

[Stlin]

Dropping the BXP presentation from 2023, which appears to match above renders, if older and which contained detailed floor plans and additional renders.

If only the south station bathrooms could look like that...

 

[HelloBostonHi]

Odd question but does anyone know who they're using for public involvement on this project? Not lost on me that the website for this (https://www.backbaystationrenovations.com) is functionally identical to the website for South Station (https://southstationairrights.com) and the Parcel 12 site (formerly https://buildp12.com https://web.archive.org/web/20220110224824/https://www.buildp12.com/), despite all being different developers...

Also separately, the MBTA construction contract for this project has been pushed back again, now with a bid date of December 18th, not entirely sure how that works with the timeline shown on above website.

https://bc.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/future_solicitations/

Back Bay Station Ventilation, Power & Concourse, Boston, MATBD11/05/202512/18/2025

For anyone keeping track, this project is one of the perennial listings on the upcoming construction bids page of the MBTA, here it is listed last year with a bid date of November 7, 2024 which came and went, alongside AFC for Commuter Rail which gets pushed back every couple of months. https://web.archive.org/web/2024051...r/bidding_solicitations/future_solicitations/

 

[cubbe8]

Odd question but does anyone know who they're using for public involvement on this project? Not lost on me that the website for this (https://www.backbaystationrenovations.com) is functionally identical to the website for South Station (https://southstationairrights.com) and the Parcel 12 site (formerly https://buildp12.com https://web.archive.org/web/20220110224824/https://www.buildp12.com/), despite all being different developers...

Also separately, the MBTA construction contract for this project has been pushed back again, now with a bid date of December 18th, not entirely sure how that works with the timeline shown on above website.

https://bc.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/future_solicitations/

For anyone keeping track, this project is one of the perennial listings on the upcoming construction bids page of the MBTA, here it is listed last year with a bid date of November 7, 2024 which came and went, alongside AFC for Commuter Rail which gets pushed back every couple of months. https://web.archive.org/web/2024051...r/bidding_solicitations/future_solicitations/

The MBTA project is the ventilation work.

 

[bigeman312]

Dropping the BXP presentation from 2023, which appears to match above renders, if older and which contained detailed floor plans and additional renders.

View attachment 64767
View attachment 64766View attachment 64765View attachment 64764
If only the south station bathrooms could look like that...

Back Bay, South Station, and North Station should all be “airport quality.”

 

[Bananarama]

I wish we didn't need to rely so much on advertising in public spaces. So much visual clutter. (wildly pristine/overly optimistic original photos below)

 

[kz1000ps]

Aaaaaand here's some more 1987 shots courtesy of Architecture magazine with photos taken by Steve Rosenthal

 

[The EGE]

The article is from the December 1988 issue and also discusses Ruggles and Forest Hills:

https://usmodernist.org/AJ/A-1988-12.pdf

 

[HenryAlan]

The article is from the December 1988 issue and also discusses Ruggles and Forest Hills:

https://usmodernist.org/AJ/A-1988-12.pdf

The article starts on page 114 of the PDF file -- some great pictures and a very thoughtful write-up. Sometimes we forget just how interesting some of these public facilities happen to be.

 

[kz1000ps]

The article is from the December 1988 issue and also discusses Ruggles and Forest Hills:

https://usmodernist.org/AJ/A-1988-12.pdf

Yes thank you for finding that. Not sure if I didn't use their search properly or what but I had trouble finding the source (I snagged those screenshots a couple years ago). Robert Campbell, who was Boston's premier architectural writer and critic for many years, wrote the article going over several of the stations on the newly situated Orange Line and it really deserves to be seen here in its entirety. This is/was top notch architectural journalism here.

And for @Arenacale, trust me dude, there is SO MUCH good pomo in here. I spent easily two months going through issue after issue after issue, and saying this out loud now I have no idea why I never shared any of it here. This below is pomo perfection!

I know it's off-topic but I want people to check out all these free digitized older magazines! It's such a good resource: https://usmodernist.org/index-aj.htm

 

[chrisbrat]

I still like both stations, in particular Back Bay. Lack of maintenance and decent treatment doesn't mean they're fundamentally "bad."

 

[sneijder]

For the love of all that is holy, can we get some high platforms for the Worcester tracks at Back Bay? It is straight up 3rd world infrastructure to still be using low-platforms for a station that gets so much ridership. If they can't coordinate to get new platforms in with this construction project, I don't know if there will ever be a better time.

 

[Smuttynose]

For the Back Bay Station renovations, the bathroom renovations will be nice, but in the lobby I'm having a hard time seeing any significant changes. The lighting will shift to a minimalist style. But it looks like they're retaining the 80s glass blocks along the sides of the building that block out a lot of natural light. And the concrete walls with a brick base will remain. I think the station will benefit from a thorough cleaning and will probably be nice for a couple years, but then will go back to looking like it does now - which is sort of dreary and kind of basement-y feeling.

 

[JeffDowntown]

For the Back Bay Station renovations, the bathroom renovations will be nice, but in the lobby I'm having a hard time seeing any significant changes. The lighting will shift to a minimalist style. But it looks like they're retaining the 80s glass blocks along the sides of the building that block out a lot of natural light. And the concrete walls with a brick base will remain. I think the station will benefit from a thorough cleaning and will probably be nice for a couple years, but then will go back to looking like it does now - which is sort of dreary and kind of basement-y feeling.

If they can just stop the water intrusion into the platform I'll be happy. The damp cave effect on the platform is insane.

 

[Arenacale]

Yes thank you for finding that. Not sure if I didn't use their search properly or what but I had trouble finding the source (I snagged those screenshots a couple years ago). Robert Campbell, who was Boston's premier architectural writer and critic for many years, wrote the article going over several of the stations on the newly situated Orange Line and it really deserves to be seen here in its entirety. This is/was top notch architectural journalism here.

And for @Arenacale, trust me dude, there is SO MUCH good pomo in here. I spent easily two months going through issue after issue after issue, and saying this out loud now I have no idea why I never shared any of it here. This below is pomo perfection!

I know it's off-topic but I want people to check out all these free digitized older magazines! It's such a good resource: https://usmodernist.org/index-aj.htm

When I have more time I'll have to dig into that!

The early photos of the station (and Forest Hills and Ruggles) look so cool - makes me want to explore them and see what's in there.

 

[Stlin]

Yes thank you for finding that. Not sure if I didn't use their search properly or what but I had trouble finding the source (I snagged those screenshots a couple years ago). Robert Campbell, who was Boston's premier architectural writer and critic for many years, wrote the article going over several of the stations on the newly situated Orange Line and it really deserves to be seen here in its entirety. This is/was top notch architectural journalism here.

That's certainly a lot of page space devoted to what now is a likely out of order ventilation structure.

That said, thinking about the ventilation system... I see the MBTAs project page notes that they're going to be pressurizing two stairwells and installing jet fans. But that stairwells system should have been finished back in 2019 or so? I don't go through BBY often so I don't recall, but if that implies that they never finished it, its rather stunning. did they ever finish it and turn it on? Also, as of late 2019 rehab of the existing ventilation system and the concomitant installation of jet fans was originally set for 2020 or so, but obviously Covid happened. With no more mention of the existing system, does that mean they quietly fixed it in prior years or does it mean that system was never actually rehabbed? (I'll send an email to the project team, but still holding my breath)