The former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters at 20 Somerset St. in Boston could be the new home for Suffolk University’s School of Art and Design.
Months after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino killed plans for a dormitory on Beacon Hill, Suffolk University hopes its fallback idea will win city and neighborhood approval.
Suffolk intends to move its School of Art and Design from cramped quarters in the Back Bay to Beacon Hill. The new location, 20 Somerset St., became a flashpoint for controversy last year when the university proposed student housing for the former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters.
“‘Anything is better than a dormitory’ was our initial reaction to moving the arts school to Beacon Hill,” said Robert Whitney, a member of the Suffolk University Task Force, a city-appointed group created to advise the mayor on the project. “But we’re still concerned. Instead of grabbing sites as they come, any expansion should be a result of long-range planning. But that’s not what they’re doing. And we’re worried that the addition of more students to the area might be the tipping point.”
Suffolk wants to grow and house more of its students on campus. But the lack of real estate coupled with opposition from Beacon Hill residents has made the prospect dicey. Boston College, Emerson College, Harvard University and Northeastern University have faced similar challenges. While residents want students housed in dorms, they don’t want student housing in their neighborhood and are weary of more campuses in residential areas.
John A. Nucci, Suffolk’s vice president of government and community affairs, said the school is close to unveiling a master plan that will include the Somerset Street site as well as several potential areas for the school’s expansion. He said the idea to move its art school to Beacon Hill have been “very well-received, without any opposition registered.”
“We are discussing the feasibility of accommodating the art school but haven’t decided whether to raze the building or work with what’s there,” Nucci said. “For more than a year, the community told us that dorm use was inappropriate on Somerset Street, but classrooms and offices would work.”
But William Hayward, a task force member and Temple Street resident, said he is unsure how the neighborhood will react to more students on Beacon Hill. “I don’t know if the arts school idea will fly,” he said. “There will be scrutiny, but perhaps there can be an understanding reached between Suffolk and residents.”
One thing that the neighborhood might request is for Suffolk to limit classes at the arts school to daytime hours, he said. “If students leave the neighborhood by sundown, it could get community support,” Hayward said.
Nucci was not ready to make such a concession last week. He said the school would not be open any later than 9:30 p.m., similar to other Suffolk buildings on Beacon Hill.
Still, Hayward praised Suffolk, noting that officials have been more direct in keeping the neighborhood informed of their intentions. “The dorm was a nonstarter. Now we can at least talk about their new idea,” he said. “Everything changed when the neighborhood organized to fight the dorm. Because of the past, residents are apprehensive. But Suffolk seems to be listening to the needs of the neighborhood while keeping the university’s needs in mind. There will be continued discussions about what is best for both.”
Growing Pains
Robert B. O’Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association, said he supports the plan to move the arts school to Somerset Street. He said the new 10-story facility would result in exhibit space for Beacon Hill and West End residents. In addition, he likes the fact that the new building will open onto Ashburton Place and improve pedestrian circulation in the area. “I like what I’ve seen,” he said. “It will improve the appearance of that visible corner of Ashburton and Somerset.”
Beatrice Nessen, a task force member who represents the Garden of Peace, a tiny memorial park commemorating homicide victims adjacent to the plaza at 100 Cambridge St., said she has been pleased with the negotiations on the art school proposal.
“Suffolk has agreed to maintain the height of the building and that’s important to us because anything higher will block the southern sun light on the garden,” she said. “They have also promised to keep the same footprint as opposed to the proposed dorm that would have moved to the edge of the park.”
Whitney, who also lives on Beacon Hill, said he is unsure if there is anything Suffolk could do to make the art school move acceptable to the neighborhood. He noted that the school’s agreement with the city to build up to 474 dorms at 10 West St. and at the former Modern Theatre on Washington Street included a promise of no more student housing in Downtown Crossing.
“If we allow expansion to the Somerset Street building and Suffolk promised not to build from Temple Street to Center Plaza, lots of people would say that’s a good idea,” Whitney said.
But such a promise may not be possible. One of the ideas that have been floated by Suffolk officials for the school’s expansion is the possibility of Suffolk’s purchase of the Charles F. Hurley Building at Cambridge and Staniford streets. Critics have called the 340,000-square-foot concrete facility, which is not for sale, Boston’s ugliest office building. If razed, the space would be big enough to create a new campus for Suffolk.
Menino has not yet been briefed on the potential move of Suffolk’s arts school to Somerset Street. In an interview with Banker & Tradesman, the mayor said he did not have a preferred use for the site. He noted that any decision about the art school must be vetted through a community planning process.
“Suffolk is great institution in our city and their problem is that none of their property is contiguous,” he said. “The question is: How do you build a campus atmosphere similar to Emerson, [which] found a location in the Theater District and has put all their resources in one place?”
On the possibility of Suffolk expanding to the Hurley site, Menino said, “It’s a conversation we should have. It’s just a concept now, but Suffolk is very important to our city and we must work with them so that growth continues, because it’s good for everyone.”
