Foes hit mayor on request of Govt. Center project
School building battle
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Boston?s mayoral candidates are blasting Mayor
Thomas M. Menino?s request for a school to be part of a $2.3 billion Government Center Garage project.
?Our mayor says he?s for development and then puts a $45 million roadblock in the path of this project,? said City Councilor Michael Flaherty.
The Menino administration asked the Raymond Property Co. to add a 97,000-square-foot elementary school to its proposed 3-million-square-foot development near the John F. Kennedy Building. The Boston company hopes to demolish the 11-story garage and replace it with two skyscrapers.
But the candidates hoping to unseat Menino - Flaherty, Kevin McCrea of the South End and City Councilor Sam Yoon - were united in their criticism of Menino?s plan.
?I favor a school in the neighborhood, but it shouldn?t be the trade-off for allowing a developer to exceed the height limits by four times what the zoning code allows,? said McCrea.
Yoon said Chinatown is still waiting for a school promised as a community benefit in exchange for approval of Hayward Place. The $200 million project with housing and retail in Downtown Crossing has yet to be built.
?The public has no confidence in the BRA?s ability to advocate for communities and neighborhoods,? Yoon said.
Susan Ellsbree, a Boston Redevelopment Authority spokeswoman, said there is ?overwhelming support? for the developer to examine a feasibility of a school.
?The developer wants enormous zoning relief, and the community is entitled to benefits,? she said. ?We asked the developer to examine the possibility of a school. It does not mean there will be one.?
Raymond CEO Stephen Kasnet said the city has every right to require the firm to examine a school as a public benefit. ?But I can tell you that given the baseline costs, I don?t believe the project could afford to pay for a school,? he said. ?I have trouble picturing a school there, given all the safety needs.?
Late last year, a Boston Public Schools spokesman told the Herald that the city was not considering an elementary school at the project site. At the time, Christopher Horan said they have more available seats citywide than students.
But the idea has become a campaign issue and parents have met privately with Menino twice about the possibility of a new school.
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