$200 mil. approved for BU construction

Boston University's $406 million plan to renovate buildings on the Charles River and Medical campuses received a financial boost Friday, when the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency approved a $200 million non-taxable bond for the project.

Building plans include new housing for School of Medicine students, new Towers dining hall facilities, major construction around the Law Tower and renovations to the Metcalf Science Center and the College of Fine Arts.

CFA interim Dean Walt Meissner spoke in front of more than 60 people last night at a CFA town hall meeting -- doubling the audience over the last meeting -- about the renovation plans for the school's facilities.

Meissner discussed plans already underway to improve the 855 Commonwealth Ave. building's basement practice rooms. He said basement renovations are expected to be completed by this spring and that the building's infrastructure is currently being improved to include better heating, cooling and electrical systems.

He said he would also like to renovate CFA's other buildings, including 808 Commonwealth Ave, which may become the new School of Visual Arts location as well as expand nearby areas to create a more vibrant presence as the central part of campus.

Campus-wide renovations are intended to maintain the university's sprawling campus, said BU Vice President for Operation Gary Nicksa.

"Given the size of the university, in order to keep up with the buildings as they get older, we need to have some significant renovation project literally every year," Nicksa said. "All of the projects that are included in the bond are ones that have come out of President Brown's

Strategic Plan. They are focused on the priorities of the major schools for the next two to three years."

The construction of two, five-story classroom buildings adjacent to the Law Tower at 765 Commonwealth Ave., along with a major renovation to occur within the tower itself will be the first of many changes for the School of Law, Dean Maureen O'Rourke said.

Nicksa said the renovation goal is to move the upper-floor classrooms out of the Law Tower and into the adjacent buildings. Renovations at the Towers dormitory will include moving the dining hall out of the basement.

The bond will cover a little less than half of the university's expenditures on these projects. The bond proposal puts costs at $406 million. Nicksa said the university plans on using the Mass Development bond to keep its facilities modern and effective.

Improving CFA's infrastructure and practice rooms will probably cost approximately $17 million, but Meissner said he expects the total renovation costs to exceed $25 million. To help pay for the renovations, President Robert Brown has "basically committed $17 million for the project," Meissner said.

BU Director of Housing Marc Robillard said other renovations will occur in Bay State Road and Commonwealth Avenue brownstones.

"We've been renovating our brownstones since the late '80s," he said. "We take one or multiple buildings and restore them to a like-new condition. This year, I believe we are going to look at 159 Bay State Road."

The Mass Development bond was approved after a Tax Equity Fiscal Responsibility Act

hearing and will go to market sometime in February, making it usable.

"Basically, it's a standard hearing," Mass Development spokesman Adam Bickelman said. "It is an opportunity for the public to provide comment to the record."