GrandMarc Residence Hall (YMCA) @ Northeastern U | 291 St. Botolph Street | Fenway

Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

KentXie said:
Can we get back on topic?
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I'll take a swing ...

TomOfBoston said:
According to statler's list, the late Cardinal Cushing was a Brahmin??? Who would have thought! LOL!
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Actually, wrong branch of the Cushing family. The late Cardinal was 1st generation Irish-American. The Brahmin Cushings were merchants and politicians back to the 18th century.

That said, Cardinal Cushing almost qualified himself, especially after he became a cardinal: he had great interest in and close ties to politics (strong supporter of the Kennedy dynasty). He was a powerful public figure during the "New Boston" era. At the rigid tumescence of urban renewal (West End, South End, Scollay) and redevelopment of the railyards into the Prudential Center complex he supported the BRA and various Mayors to help "sell" their concepts to the public.

Why the public never figured out that a man of God is still just a fallible man with a hard-on for power I'll never know. The Pru is the only of the four that I consider a marginal success.

What does that have to do with YMCA/Grandmarc? Short-sightedness. More improtantly a shortsighted view with only an eye on money. I think a plan to provide housing at the Y is interesting, if the historically important Y property can be retained and restored with as much or more community access done. Also the Y should be completely revamped and open BEFORE the dorm is allowed to be built. We all know how these things go: they build the dorm and are out of linkage promised to remodel the Y.

As others point out though, there are competing interests right now, and the BRA will get what it wants.

EDIT: (Sorry, copied and pasted without making sure I caught everything. The last bit was originally lost.)
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Where would they build the temporary (or permanent) replacement?
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

i was being facetious about Cardinal Cushing being a Brahmin. LOL!

Here is an idea: The YMCA sells its entire complex to Northeastern/Phoenix and uses the proceeds to built a new from the ground up Y on part of the site that the Elma Lewis group has been trying to redevelop unsuccessfully. That way, Northeastern gets its dorm and classrooms on its side of town and the Roxbury community gets a first rate Y on its side of Tremont Street. Or would some of the current Y members hesitate to go into that part of the community?
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

KentXie said:
Where would they build the temporary (or permanent) replacement?
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Some of the membership have asked that the Huntington Ave building be fully remolded before the rear addition is torn down for the dorm tower.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

The could build a temporary structure on the parking lot next to the arena and use the facilities at the arena for lockers and showers when northeaster isn't using them.

Northeastern is looking to sell Botolph Terrace to a low income group.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Paul, where did you hear that? My understanding was that they weren't releasing any information on its future. Walking by it this week, it seemed to me the perfect way to expand / replace Matthews Arena in 2023, no?
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

bbfen said:
Some of the membership have asked that the Huntington Ave building be fully remodeled before the rear addition is torn down for the dorm tower.
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There's no money to do that.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Where? I don't see 'YMCA' or 'Northeastern' on that page at all, and I couldn't find it under the subject headings I looked at either.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

I read the print edition. I'll pick up a copy again and copy the info. It may not be the same newspaper after all. I can't access the online one
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Ahh. The print edition is here (in a fairly inconvenient format)
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

So the article says that many of the Huntington Y's members are suburbanites who use the Y gym before or after work. How nice! Don't they have any Y's in the suburbs?
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Should a non-profit necessarily have its primary clientele in its immediate surrounding neighborhood? The YMCA is a regional resource. Perhaps this one offers facilities, programs, or classes not available closer to where the members live.

Had they been able to build the North End Y, it surely would have drawn from a wide area (and then maybe this one would be less essential).
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

My high school football coach use to use a phrase with the team that I think is very applicable to what's happening with this project: "You reap what you sow."

What it sounds like to me is that the YMCA's Huntington Avenue branch--one of the oldest and most storied in the United States--has seen tremendous declines in membership over the years and, lately, finds itself under dire financial circumstances. Rather than reaching out to its members to find a solution to its financial woes and solve those problems, the YMCA allowed its coffers to decline further for years, thereby denying its members the services they expect and causing membership to decline even further.

In steps the Phoenix Development Group.

This developer offers a proposal that would resolve the YMCA of many of its financial worries AND solve a problem that's been affecting the local community for far too long: a scarcity of college student housing. The downside of said proposal is that the YMCA would need to relinquish the footprint of its current gymnasium building at the Huntington YMCA in order to receive the hefty payout offered by the Phoenix group.

Only now are YMCA members signing petitions to prevent the development group from moving forward with plans to purchase this building, demolish it, and construct the 720-bed residence hall to be leased by Northeastern University. Their biggest gripe is that they don't want demolition to start this summer because the YMCA needs time to relocate their athletic equipment and facilities, "square foot for square foot" to quote one city resident.

Why does this irritate me?

Umm...

OH, I know... BECAUSE THE YMCA HAS BEEN TRYING TO LAND THIS DEAL FOR 5 FREAKING YEARS!!! They've had all this time to browse for architects, engineers, and contractors that could've drawn up plans to re-work these facilities on-site AND accommodate the new residence hall. But now, instead, the members waited until the last minute (of course) to b*tch, moan, and groan about losing their gym space that means so much to them. If the gym meant so much to you, then why didn't you petition years ago when the project was ever mentioned? Why didn't you band together with the rest of the YMCA members to make these changes or elect better leadership for the organization that would've used money more appropriately and guided the direction for the facility?

Sorry, but it really grinds my gears. They really need to quit bashing Northeastern, suck it up, and accept that the fault of the YMCA to hold onto this property is its own.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

^^^^Agreed! A wake up call to the Y membership occurred 2 or 3 years ago when the Y and Phoenix proposed an even larger project (without Northeastern involvement) that would have demolished part of the Hastings Wing in addition to the gym. I guess the members hit the snooze button at the time.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

I couldn't find anything on the Botolph Terrace. I read something about Burbank St residents.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Looks like this plan is going to go through regardless of how much the NIMBYs protest. Good. (Not referring to those protesting about the gym but those trying to give it a landmark status).
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Once again NIMBYs should fight a real cause, this is beyond idiotic. If they are saying there will be a huge void in fitness centers in this imediate area then guess what? The free market will pick up the slack. Let WOW or Ballys or BSC know how dire the situation is, I'm sure they could eventually find something.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

but a YMCA is a non-profit membership organization with a different purpose than any of the places you mention.
 
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