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Developers imagining re-use of historic sewage pumping station at UMass Boston
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Comments
It's always impressive to me
It's always impressive to me how much we used to care about creating public (and public works) buildings that made an architectural statement. There was a sense of pride in civic infrastructure that is severely lacking today.
Examples Good and Bad
Good example - There is the word Munificence carved into the BPL. That is a great word and tells you a lot about the BPL in general.
Bad Example - The ceiling on the O'Neil tunnel was never finished. It seems the ceiling was the victim of value engineering because Staties asleep in cruisers on dead end street while utility lines were moved coupled with a few state rep sign holders given jobs in the "community outreach" centers set up for the Big Dig ate up the budget.
Maybe not the best example?
Who looks at the ceiling in a highway tunnel? I'm glad that the Big Dig spent money to make something look good where people actually see it -- the Zakim Bridge.
More A Failure of Planning and Policy
Throw billions at something but don't finish the job. That's failure.
It is like painting 7/8'ths of your house and giving up because, you know, they couldn't finish it.
Fought Tooth and Nail
Why would a public entity such as UMASS not want information on this matter made public? Just the fact that it wasn't public as a matter of routine makes me wonder what's up? These days there is too much unacceptability on the part of government to it's citizens.
I smell a rat.
I love that building
Usually I took the train/bus or biked, but when I drove to UMB I often walked past that building on my way in and was always upset that it was just wasting away.
I really hope they can afford to fix this up without passing costs along to students. The UMB campus has improved a lot over the past decade or two, but I think it is struggling to attain the original goal of being an affordable (and good) option for students in Boston and surrounding communities.
Will development cut off access to the many that
fish that spot?
Possibly a little, but this
Possibly a little, but this building is pretty far in from the water. If they build all the way through the calf pasture, it could get in the way, but there's still a lot of harbor walk. I don't fish, so maybe there's a particularly good spot where they might store materials.