Task Force Approves BU Housing Plan

Boston University's Master Plan, a blueprint of the university's proposed expansion and improvement of facilities in coming years, received unanimous approval this month from a task force representing local community and business groups.

The new Plan includes provisions to expand academic facilities, improve parking and, most importantly, remedy the shortage of dormitory space that has plagued Boston University (BU) in recent years.

The 170-page document gives details of BU's expansion, mentioning specific sites for future construction and establishing a development schedule.

A major component of the plan is the university's commitment to provide housing for 75 percent of the undergraduate student body by 1993, up from its current ability to house 56 percent. This year, the university had to house 650 students, many of them freshmen, in hotels for several weeks before it could find dormitory rooms for them.

The construction of new dormitories has for years been the source of conflict between the university and community groups, who have complained that dormitories are noisy and cause property values in their neighborhoods to fall.

Several organizations protested the city's low selling price in its 1986 sale of the Commonwealth Armory to BU. The university plans to construct about 1000 beds of student housing on the armory site.

Most community groups are satisfied with the present agreement because a majority of the new housing, including the proposed Commonwealth Armory dormitory, will be within the boundaries of the campus, said Henry Ragin, one of the task force's three chairmen and president of the Brighton-Allston Improvement Association.

According to the approved plan, in addition to building on the armory site, the university will built a dormitory at 1019 Commonwealth Ave. and convert one of its office buildings, Rich Hall, into student quarters.

The decision culminates 18 months of deliberation between university administrators, city officials and the task force, a 25-member body comprised of representatives from local community and business groups.

"We're very excited about the Master Plan. It's one of the greatest accomplishments this community could achieve," Ragin said.

"It was a triangular set-up, with the task force, B.U. and the city all contributing to the negotiation process," said Dick Garver, assistant director for special projects at the Boston Redevelopment Authority.