Emmanuel to add dorm, enlarge library
June 29, 2011
Emmanuel College has unveiled plans to expand its campus, including construction of a new dormitory and a library addition. To help pay for the projects, the Fenway college would lease a parcel for development. Emmanuel officials outlined the proposal at a Longwood Medical Area forum Monday night. College officials said they do not yet have cost estimates. Sarah Welsh, Emmanuel’s vice president for government and community relations, said the dorm would be called Julie Hall North, a new 183,000-square-foot residence hall with 425 to 475 beds and a 300-to-400-seat dining hall. The college also plans to renovate the Cardinal Cushing Library, adding about 58,000 square feet. The Boston Redevelopment Authority is accepting public comments on the project through July 25.
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Emmanuel College announces plans to add dorm, expand library
June 28, 2011
By Sara Brown, Town Correspondent, Globe Staff
Emmanuel College has unveiled plans to expand its campus that include a new dormitory and a larger library. To pay for the two projects, the Fenway college would lease a parcel for development.
Emmanuel officials outlined the proposal, which is part of the college's institutional 10-year plan, at a Longwood Medical Area forum Monday evening. College officials said they do not yet have cost estimates for the projects, focusing first on getting permits.
Sarah Welsh, Emmanuel’s vice president for government and community relations, said at meeting that the college hopes to build Julie Hall North, a new 183,000-square-foot residence hall with between 425 and 475 beds and a 300- to 400-seat dining hall.
The building would be adjacent to an existing dormitory, Julie Hall, though "splashier," Welsh said, potentially with amenities like suites, apartments, and kitchens.
"Students have pretty high standards of where they want to live and how they want to live," Welsh said in an interview.
The preliminary plans for the dorm call for it to be between 75 feet and 150 feet tall, with no additional parking added. Welsh told the audience that students are not allowed to bring cars on campus.
The college also plans to expand and renovate the Cardinal Cushing Library, adding about 58,000 square feet. The design work remains to be done on this project, Welsh added.
To fund these projects, Welsh said, Emmanuel will seek to lease for development a parcel of land it owns on Avenue Louis Pasteur, which will hold a 360,000-square-foot research building. About 355 parking spaces would be moved below-ground, she said.
The project would have to "fit with our mission" Welsh said in an interview, recalling another successful joint venture: in 2000, Emmanuel leased one acre to the pharmaceutical giant Merck Co. for $50 million.
The company built a 12-story science building where students work and do internships and professors bring classes. The Merck relationship "is so much more than just a ground lease," Welsh said.
After finding someone to lease the space, Welsh said, the next project would likely be the residence hall. While the timeline is tentative, she said, "it would be really challenging to have two big construction projects going on at the same time."
The expansion would accommodate the college’s growing student body, which is expected to expand from 1,750 to 2,200 undergraduates over the next 10 years, Welsh said, while continuing to house 75 percent of the student body on campus.
Emmanuel is a private, co-educational Catholic liberal arts and sciences college that was founded in 1919 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. The school originally educated girls only, and the school said enrollment increased from about 500 students to more than 1,700 since the school went co-ed in 2000.
In 2000, the school issued the first 10-year institutional master plan, Welsh said, which worked well. "We are going to hopefully build upon that success for the next 10 years."
The Boston Redevelopment Authority is accepting public comments on the project through July 25.
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