BU Development Thread

[jass]

This is part of the eventual construction of a new computer science building on this property which halted with the economy shoring up. I think this is one of those examples where "well, it's better than a parking lot" doesn't apply.

It was better than a parking lot. The GSU BK closed soon after, and the boylston BK is slated to go away in the next few years, leaving a giant void of burgers.

And yes, its nice to see that the new building takes away parking and offers none, the basement will have student use, not parking.

As for the building, I like how it looks, but still oppose the idea of a unified dining hall.

Also, having different food stations on 2 floors = major fail. Consolidate the food on one floor.

 

[bdurden]

Bullshit!

A parking lot is never OK, and no one ever needs to make excuses for one.

No one is making excuses for the parking lot, just correcting the spreading of misinformation (bullshit).

 

[Ron Newman]

It was better than a parking lot. The GSU BK closed soon after, and the boylston BK is slated to go away in the next few years, leaving a giant void of burgers.

Isn't there a UBurger in Kenmore Square? And another one just west of Agganis Arena? If you have a local place then you don't need a national chain.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

This is part of the eventual construction of a new computer science building on this property which halted with the economy shoring up.

ablarc is right when he says bullshit. You could say every parking lot is the result of "eventual construction . . . which halted . . . the economy shoring up." SEE: THE SEAPORT DISTRICT (for the last 30 years).

 

[bdurden]

ablarc is right when he says bullshit. You could say every parking lot is the result of "eventual construction . . . which halted . . . the economy shoring up." SEE: THE SEAPORT DISTRICT (for the last 30 years).

Unlike the Seaport, BU has consistently built upon, and increased density on its campus for the last 30 years. The Seaport has literally nothing in common with BU. I'm only telling you why the parking lot exists; I suppose blanket statements are sexier.

 

[kennedy]

Isn't there a UBurger in Kenmore Square? And another one just west of Agganis Arena? If you have a local place then you don't need a national chain.

Don't hate on the BK Lounge, you hippie!
(I kid, never been to a UBurger, but the website makes it look damn good.)

 

[HenryAlan]

ablarc is right when he says bullshit. You could say every parking lot is the result of "eventual construction . . . which halted . . . the economy shoring up." SEE: THE SEAPORT DISTRICT (for the last 30 years).

To which I say bullshit. B.U. didn't create a parking lot where none existed. The Burger King was there, but so was the parking lot. Yes, it got a bit bigger, but I can point to half a dozen buildings on the B.U. campus that were parking lots when I attended the school. There is a consistent record of eliminating them over time.

 

[ant8904]

I'm a CS major at BU. Word around here, the department have the money in place for sometime now (probably though research for construction grants, that's what I heard how Photonics got built). The current problem is more that the administration have not sign off on giving the parking lot to the CS department.

Of course, this is all hearsay, but it is true that we get a disproportional amount of research money compared to our size. I also heard that the CS department was once much bigger before enrollment shrunk a lot after the dot-com bubble. My thinking is that might have played a roll on why it haven't been built yet and it is also possible that another department been eying for the parking lot for their building which been making the administration hesitant (to my misfortune too, watch as they start construction as soon as I graduate).


Also, I have say that wtf on calling BS on a single parking lot that once held a Burger King. There's a picture of that area in the Career Development Office which predate all the makeover. It was suburban BK building surrounded by a large field of asphalt. From what I have heard, BU have been building on lots and car dealership stores for years, yet you guys are harping on the loss of a suburban BK restaurant.

addition: UBurger is really good. Also Rhett's in the GSU is an acceptable replacement to BK.

 

[kennedy]

I was going to say, that parking lot is probably more aesthetically pleasing than the BK. Now, if they had torn down a BK that had a flush streetwall, it would actually be pretty criminal.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Tut, tut. It was a parking lot with a building on it when the BK was there. It was mostly empty, most of the time. Underutilized. Seemed as though the BK was pretty empty, every time I went by. No great loss.

 

[kz1000ps]

It will always crave, and carve out, parking lots until some law comes along to prevent it.

Barking up the wrong tree?

What buildings has BU torn down and left for parking lots, besides the Burger King (which was absolutely no better for the urban fabric than what's there now) ? Every other lot has been there since the land was made developable 100+ years ago.

 

[ablarc]

^ You're not suggesting --are you-- that those lots were vacant 100 years ago?

 

[Ron Newman]

Yes, they probably were. Bay State Road was the last gasp of Back Bay development, and it never got completely filled in before BU began taking it over. And much of Comm. Ave. from Blandford Street west to Allston contained car dealerships.

 

[kz1000ps]

^ You're not suggesting --are you-- that those lots were vacant 100 years ago?

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Here's Kenmore in 1902:

And 1938:

Excuse me if I'm presuming too much ablarc, but it seems you don't know the history of the area, that being that it was laid out with the expectations of being an extension of the Back Bay in both form and function, an expectation that never materialized as the demand for single-family homes (especially mansions) in the city disappeared once streetcars made living in the suburbs a possibility.

Instead, Comm Ave's use went commercial and became the region's first Auto Mile, but even at its peak Comm Ave never came close to seeing its urban fabric made whole.

Lastly, this area's fate mirrors that of the West Fenway neighborhood, particularly Boylston Street, which also saw development come on very slowly and in the form of light industry (or tenements on Peterborough and Queensberry).

 

[TomOfBoston]

Thank you kz1000ps, to elaborate:

BU acquired the mostly empty Charles River Campus in the 1920's with plans to consolidate all of its operations there, except the School of Medicine. The Depression delayed everything and before BU could start building, the state had expropriated half the campus to build Storrow Drive and the Esplanade. This robbed BU of a riverfront campus.

BU used the old car dealerships on Comm Ave and the 2 story industrial buildings on Cummington St as quickly convertible academic buildings. It provided cheap, quick classrooms and offices but to this day BU still has some of these ugly buildings in use, especially on Cummington St.

BU has torn down little if anything to build its campus. They have even preserved that one outlying apartment house that was built on Bay State Rd. Learn some BU and Boston urban development history before criticizing BU for imagined "sins" against the city fabric.

 

[jass]

Isn't there a UBurger in Kenmore Square? And another one just west of Agganis Arena? If you have a local place then you don't need a national chain.

Some of us dont like paying $7 for a burger.



And dont post those depressing old pictures. Yes, most of comm ave was empty (empty lots have ALWAYS been empty lots, with the exception of a rare fire), but the massacre of mountfort street is terrible.

 

[TomOfBoston]

Please post more old pictures! They will prevent the Nouveaux Bostoniens from making up their own history of an imagined past.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

They will prevent the Nouveaux Bostoniens from making up their own history of an imagined past.

Because "true" Bostonians remember what things were like in 1902.
P.S. All true Bostonians are Centenarians.

 

[kz1000ps]

I wouldn't call ablarc a newbie, he grew up here decades ago. But on with more pics!

1930s:

1939, taken from a book on BU's (architectural?) history:

And 1955:

 

[bdurden]

A picture never lies.