Berklee Expansion Plans | Back Bay

Re: Last

bosdevelopment said:
bbfen said:
bosdevelopment said:
Last night I parked behind the Berkley Performance Center and my car was broken into. My digital camera was stolen along with about 100 dollars in quarters.

What a nightmare. Berklee should put some lights back there or something.
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Welcome to the neighborhood. There's been a rash of vehicle break-ins around here lately.

Berklee can't just install additional lighting on city streets though (nor is it their responsibility). Perhaps you want to this to the Mayor's Office. 617-635-4500.
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Yeah I agree. Me railing on Berklee was just venting because I was (and still am) upset about what happened. I'd never think there would be such open crime in this area. It's so populated.
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There was an article in the Back Bay Sun about this last week. Crime at large has been worse than usual lately in the Back Bay (someone "stickered" parts of Boylston over the weekend, car break-ins, stabbings last weekend, a shooting this weekend, plus more vagrants than usual who can be less than scrupulous).

I've read that Berklee has taken steps to encourage the city into improving the Boylston/Mass Ave area. Let's hope they continue to play nicely and coordinate even more improvements--like more streetlamps on those little side streets.
 
What do you mean by 'stickered' ? Do you mean advertisements for bands?
 
Ron Newman said:
What do you mean by 'stickered' ? Do you mean advertisements for bands?
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There were large 2'x2' stickers that looked vaguely like the Patriots head, except different -- they had a star on them, maybe for whomever the Pats played Sunday? -- that were put on the "Welcome to the Back Bay" sign, the clock at Mass Ave/Boylston and quite a few other places near the west edge of Back Bay over the weekend.

Essentially, pre-made graffiti. I see that much of it was removed last night and throughout today. Kudos to those who worked to clean up this mess.
 
Re: Last

bosdevelopment said:
Me railing on Berklee was just venting because I was (and still am) upset about what happened. I'd never think there would be such open crime in this area. It's so populated.
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The backside to the main Berklee buildings is more or less a wasteland as far as "eyes on the street" is concerned. Thank the highway and the parking garage for turning the roads in that vicinity into nothing more than access corridors that give nothing to pedestrians.

I imagine that the little park that belongs to the church was nice once upon a time, but its current neglected condition (also partly due to the church's finances) is indicative of the overall state of that area.
 
Plus, the sides and back of the theatre building are a doorless and windowless dead zone. (Just about all old theatres are this way.)
 
Berklee plans huge Back Bay dorm
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Tuesday, December 5, 2006


Berklee College of Music today will unveil an ambitious plan to dramatically expand and reshape its Back Bay campus.

Berklee would build its first high-rise dorm as well as an entertainment venue where music students can show off their talents. The college aims to double the size of its 600,000-square-foot campus within a decade.

The school hopes to add 1,200 beds and eventually house half of its 4,000 students on-campus.

Berklee is seriously exploring a dorm tower on Back Bay property it owns at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street near the Sheraton and Hilton hotels. The new dorm, which could rise up to 30 stories, would be large enough for 600 students, said David Hornfischer, Berklee?s senior vice president for administration and finance.

Next fall, Berklee plans to open a new, 5,000-square-foot ?coffeehouse? on Boylston Street next to space now rented by the Cactus Club.

While the name is still up in the air, the venue will give Berklee students an additional place to perform. Students interested in the business side of the field will get a chance to help run the venue, Hornfischer said.

College officials plan to present some of their plans tonight to a city-appointed panel. There?s no price tag yet, but, if fully built out at today?s construction costs, the college?s revamp could cost roughly $300 million.

Hornfischer said Berklee?s current campus is not the one the school really wants and needs.

Berklee is also looking at other future development projects, including the possibility of a high-rise built on an air-rights deck over the nearby Massachusetts Turnpike. New York-based Millennium Partners has long had the option to build there, and once proposed a 60-story tower, but Massachusetts Turnpike officials may be looking at new options.

Berklee?s plans are long range and the school doesn?t expect to open a new dorm at the corner of Massachusetts and Boylston until 2012.

Before then, college officials will have to figure out where to move Berklee?s recording studios and other college facilities that currently occupy the site.


Link
 
Nothing in there about any demolition of, or change to, the Performance Center theatre.
 
The Globe has it on the front page of Boston.com this morning; not sure where it's buried in the print edition: http://tinyurl.com/ydkjv4

Berklee seeks to build dorm tower and theater

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff | December 5, 2006

Berklee College of Music plans to seek the city's approval to build a high-rise residence hall and theater complex so that it can become a more residential campus and relieve cramping from a surge in student enrollment, school officials said yesterday.

The projects, which would add more dorm space, practice rooms, and other facilities, would double Berklee's physical space.

The proposed 25- to 30-story complex would replace two buildings, the Berklee Performance Center and a two-story academic building at the corner of Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
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And, there's 2 glaring errors in the graphic. 1) Who wants to be surprised, and 2) who can spot it? http://tinyurl.com/yb6cxq

Decent article, except for Mark "NOT IN BOSTON'S BACKYARD" Maloney's baloney, giving the same, tired quote they've had for years: "We think their plans are bold, and we encourage bold plans, but we are not sure the community will support such bold plans." I wonder if that's printed on a card or something. Maybe the signature in their e-mail?

Meg-Mainzer Cohen (another of the usual suspects), in a welcome turn says:

"We love having" Berklee in the neighborhood, said Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president and executive director of the Back Bay Association and a member of the task force scrutinizing Berklee's proposal. "We are a city, and a city needs to grow, it needs to breathe and to meet the needs of its growing industries."

Mainzer-Cohen said she did not object to Berklee building dorms in the neighborhood because its students are more well behaved than many other colleges' students.
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EDIT: Spotted another error in the graphic. They're both huge..
 
The story is "buried" at the top of today's front page.

I'm not seeing the obvious errors in the graphic. But does Berklee really lease 360 Newbury (the former Virgin Megastore building)?
 
Ron Newman said:
The story is "buried" at the top of today's front page.

I'm not seeing the obvious errors in the graphic. But does Berklee really lease 360 Newbury (the former Virgin Megastore building)?
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Give this man a prize! You caught the first graphic error. The other is a sin of omission.
 
...

the belvedere at the Prudential Center doesn't seem to exist....
 
The other error i see is that it seems that the graphic claims that Berkeley leases the location of urban outfitters on the north east corner of Mass Ave and Newbury st. maybe that's what the person above stated was the old virgin megastore (not familiar w/ newbury all that much) but last time i was there, that was urban outfitters.
 
You're right lrfox, it's an urban outfitters. And at least floors 4 and 5, possibly also 3, is space for the BAC. Another error is the 1080 Boylston building, where the bookstore is, is shown as a tiny speck although they lease out the entire first floor and basement.
 
Ron Newman said:
Nothing in there about any demolition of, or change to, the Performance Center theatre.
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The recording studios are in the basement directly beneath the BPC, so I'd assume since they're talking about removing/demolishing those, the theatre would also be going. And the red block in the graphic points to that conclusion.

I'll ask my guy later on what he knows.
 
Doesn't Berklee own or lease the building at the corner of Belvedere and Mass Av?
 
Roxxma said:
Doesn't Berklee own or lease the building at the corner of Belvedere and Mass Av?
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You, also, win a prize. That building is what's shown in the picture.
 
I'm talking about the other corner, on the same side of Mass Av as McDonald's, but the other side of Belvedere.
 
Yes, in the Globe graphic, it's not shown as either a lease or owned. But, Berklee owns it. It was a hotel (not the other old hotel/brothel owned on Boylston!), the one that partially burned and was rebuilt a while back.

KZ it's the pictured with the Globe story (click the link above...). Herald also has a picture from a similar location/angle.
 
Right, I was a bit slow at first but got it. Amazing how they forgot to highlight Berklee's single largest building on that graphic.
 
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