Boston College Master Plan

85CommAve said:
Any photo updates on the progress here...?
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I've got some, been too lazy to upload them to imgur. Edwards Hall is completely gone as of a few weeks ago. I assume they're into site work now but haven't been by for a while.
 
"Edwards Hall is completely gone as of a few weeks ago."

You might say that it was never even there! (the name was Edmonds Hall) ;)
 
Equilibria said:
PNF for the Fieldhouse (seems to be for Football use only)...
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The football team is definitely the main "customer" as they desperately need this facility to be even remotely competitive in the ACC football facilities arms race (they could also use a new coach, but that's a subject for a different blog). However, I'm sure other teams will be able to use it when the football team isn't in there. But football will be absolute Priority One for use of it.

A major part of the public discussion will be the housing impact. If you look at the site plan of the prior IMP (figure 1.5 of the PNF) you can see three dorms projected for what is now Shea Field. In this PNF the site plan has them eliminated, though in section 2.1.2 there's a paragraph saying that these three dorms will be condensed into two, with those details in a separate IMP amendment. There is still some space there to do that, though that area's getting a bit cramped now with this field house.

Even with a BC grad as Boston Mayor, I think they'll have a hard time getting their IMP amended for this field house without providing certainty that the number of beds of undergraduate housing previously promised to be built there will still get built somewhere.
 
West said:
The football team is definitely the main "customer" as they desperately need this facility to be even remotely competitive in the ACC football facilities arms race (they could also use a new coach, but that's a subject for a different blog). However, I'm sure other teams will be able to use it when the football team isn't in there. But football will be absolute Priority One for use of it.
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Look, I'm not bashing BC... look at what my alma mater is willing to do...

2rw638.jpg
 
Equilibria said:
Look, I'm not bashing BC... look at what my alma mater is willing to do...
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I certainly didn't think you were bashing BC.

I can't tell from your posted pic what your alma mater is, but there's a lot of that sort of thing going around. Holy Cross has a huge new facility in process that includes an indoor practice field large enough for a full-length football field, and HC intentionally de-emphasized football decades ago (as compared to BC, for example). In the facilities race, for BC to be behind HC means they are just miles and miles behind the ACC norm. There's a real good argument that BC ought never have joined the ACC (which I mostly agree with), but that water flowed under that bridge: they made their bed in the ACC, now they have to figure out how to sleep in it.
 
West said:
The football team is definitely the main "customer" as they desperately need this facility to be even remotely competitive in the ACC football facilities arms race (they could also use a new coach, but that's a subject for a different blog). However, I'm sure other teams will be able to use it when the football team isn't in there. But football will be absolute Priority One for use of it.

A major part of the public discussion will be the housing impact. If you look at the site plan of the prior IMP (figure 1.5 of the PNF) you can see three dorms projected for what is now Shea Field. In this PNF the site plan has them eliminated, though in section 2.1.2 there's a paragraph saying that these three dorms will be condensed into two, with those details in a separate IMP amendment. There is still some space there to do that, though that area's getting a bit cramped now with this field house.

Even with a BC grad as Boston Mayor, I think they'll have a hard time getting their IMP amended for this field house without providing certainty that the number of beds of undergraduate housing previously promised to be built there will still get built somewhere.
Click to expand...

Putting any dorms there alongside this field house would be very cramped. Maybe one would work
 
West said:
I certainly didn't think you were bashing BC.

I can't tell from your posted pic what your alma mater is, but there's a lot of that sort of thing going around. Holy Cross has a huge new facility in process that includes an indoor practice field large enough for a full-length football field, and HC intentionally de-emphasized football decades ago (as compared to BC, for example). In the facilities race, for BC to be behind HC means they are just miles and miles behind the ACC norm. There's a real good argument that BC ought never have joined the ACC (which I mostly agree with), but that water flowed under that bridge: they made their bed in the ACC, now they have to figure out how to sleep in it.
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The alma mater is Northwestern.

Here is the interior of Holy Cross' new field house.
football_0.jpg


Visually, Holy Cross' looks to be higher, and the Holy Cross field looks to be striped for different sports. I don't believe BC has a men's lacrosse team, and lacrosse season starts in February. I know there are schools that have played scheduled lacrosse game indoors, because the outdoor field was unplayable. I believe that a regulation football field (with end zones) is suitable for lacrosse.

But, IMO, this is a waste of money, manifest of a keeping up with the Jones attitude, if BC intends it to be used only for football.
 
stellarfun said:
The alma mater is Northwestern.

Here is the interior of Holy Cross' new field house.
football_0.jpg


Visually, Holy Cross' looks to be higher, and the Holy Cross field looks to be striped for different sports. I don't believe BC has a men's lacrosse team, and lacrosse season starts in February. I know there are schools that have played scheduled lacrosse game indoors, because the outdoor field was unplayable. I believe that a regulation football field (with end zones) is suitable for lacrosse.

But, IMO, this is a waste of money, manifest of a keeping up with the Jones attitude, if BC intends it to be used only for football.
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BC does have lacrosse.

Agree with the sentiment. Universities should stop being professional sports franchises.
 
stellarfun said:
But, IMO, this is a waste of money, manifest of a keeping up with the Jones attitude, if BC intends it to be used only for football.
Click to expand...

I am confident the football team will allow other sports to use the facility; or perhaps I should phrase that, I'm confident the athletic department will insist on sharing. However, I am also confident that the football team is the driving factor here, and will almost certainly get first dibs on which hours of which days they get to use it. Lacrosse and any other team using it will work around the football schedule.

I agree with the sentiment that this "keeping up with the Joneses (or Clemsons, etc)" is stupid. But when BC left the Big East to join the ACC they put themselves onto this road. ACC football is indeed de facto professional football, and failing to keep up with the major intra-conference rivals, or at least not falling too much farther behind them, is a cold hard reality. It's a stupid reality, but a stupid reality that BC chose for itself.

So now they get to apply for amendments to their IMP and therefore get to go before not just the NIMBYs (whose power over BC I feel is exaggerated) but also the City of Boston. Boston may not care a rat's ass about the indoor practice facility, but I bet they will care about those dorm rooms that got displaced, and will want to see where they got displaced to.
 
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JumboBuc said:
Men's lacrosse is a club sport at BC. They do not have an NCAA (varsity) program.
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The BC women's lacrosse team is a varsity ACC sport. Men's is club, you're right.

The two soccer teams, just to name a few more, would also presumably be able to make good use of an indoor facility for off-season practices. They've got their own outdoor field over on the Newton campus, but would appreciate some indoor space with good room to run. Even if it's all marked out for (American) football, it'd be a whole lot better than their current options in February.
 
A notice went around to BC employees that construction on the new rec center is supposed to start this week.
 
Drove by today. 2 excavators on site pushing dirt around.
 
BC has installed new video cameras on its webpage to view progress on the new playing fields and the new rec center.

I imagine the fields will be completed by the next fall term. The rec center is scheduled to open in September, 2018, I believe.
 
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