Anyone looking for the next neighborhood renaissance along Boston Harbor needs to look no further than Dorchester. Implementation of UMass Boston’s 25-year master plan is helping to transform the university into a “cutting edge, sustainable and attractive environment” for “an urban public research center of the 21st century.”
Opening this fall, a new $125 million Integrated Science Center will provide students with state-of-the-art science facilities, while a new General Academic Building in 2015 will offer students teaching laboratories, performance and recital spaces. The university’s purchase of the 20-acre Bayside Expo site may eventually allow for student housing to potentially attract more than a commuter student body. With the opening of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in early 2015, Dorchester’s Columbia Point peninsula is fast evolving into a major center for innovative scientific, cultural, and political science study and research.
Much welcome news for the university, employers, and residents is the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA)’s redesign process currently underway for Mt. Vernon Street. Identified in the BRA’s 2011 Columbia Point Master Plan as a critical link connecting Columbia Point’s neighborhoods and institutions, Mt. Vernon Street is also a key connection between UMass’ Bayside Expo site and the rest of its campus. As part of a creative planning process, the BRA will include “temporary urbanism” installations to test ideas for improving and beautifying this major thoroughfare for all users, and in particular, pedestrians and cyclists.
A Long-Term Commitment
Corcoran Jennison’s long-time commitment to Columbia Point continues, with its 184-unit Residences at University Place planned near the MBTA station and a proposed expansion of its existing Hilton Double Tree Hotel. On the other side of Morrissey Boulevard, Synergy Investments is moving forward with plans for 278 rental units near Shaw’s Supermarket, and the Boston Globe’s announcement that it is exploring a possible sale of its building and facility will no doubt spur much development interest.
Perhaps Dorchester’s strongest assets are its mix of housing units, including the award-winning, mixed-income Harbor Point on the Bay Apartments on Columbia Point, as well as its natural assets. The Department of Conservation and Recreation’s “Back to the Beaches” improvements at Tenean, Savin Hill, and Malibu Beaches and Dorchester Shores Park have resulted in residents rediscovering and using Dorchester’s waterfront again. Thanks to the efforts of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, weekly water quality tests show a significantly cleaner harbor, with Dorchester beaches swimmable more than 80 percent of the time. One can walk along a nearly uninterrupted HarborWalk stretch from the John F. Kennedy Library all the way to Carson Beach and Pleasure Bay in South Boston.
Growth on Dorchester’s waterfront can be a model for the rest of the waterfront, with a mix of housing and employment opportunities for all; attention to climate resilient projects; continued investments in MBTA service at the UMass station; and an expanded water transportation network linking to Columbia Point to ensure environmentally sustainable development.
Vivien Li is president of The Boston Harbor Association, www.tbha.org. Email: vli@tbha.org
