Construction on a new academic building to be built on College Avenue is being postponed until further notice, according to Barbara Stein, vice president of operations at Tufts.
The newly approved Cummings building, so named because it is being funded through a grant from the Cummings Foundation, was set for a June 2018 construction start date last fall by the university, the Mayor of Medford and city officials, according to Stein. Stein said the university is postponing construction due to budget concerns and new objectives.
According to Stein, the budget plans have changed significantly as a result of evolving intentions for the Cummings building. Stein further explained how the increasing budget is expected to impact construction.
“To absorb the costs of the expanded plan for the building without putting undue stress on the university’s budget, the start of construction will be pushed out,” Stein said in an email to the Daily. “Continued cost estimating will take place to lay the groundwork for construction, which would start no sooner than the summer of 2019, depending on financial projections and budget status.”
The previous plans for construction, which had called for construction to begin in June 2018 with a completion goal of September 2020, are being subject to new developments for the future project.
Lois Stanley, director of campus planning, highlighted the changing plans for the building and its implications for future campus planning.
“The building design was expanded last year to capitalize on the land and to address important space needs across a number of schools, including more classroom, department and research space, particularly for certain new and/or rapidly growing programs,” Stanley wrote in an email to the Daily. “The building will house classrooms, meeting and seminar rooms, offices and conference spaces, as well as retail and function spaces.”
The changes and expanding plans are expected to bring new opportunities to academics at Tufts.
Kathleen Fisher, chair of the computer science department, gave an example of how the new building will provide much-needed amenities for the department.
“Currently, the computer science department is split across four buildings. It would be better for the department if all of our faculty could have offices in the same building as it supports greater collaboration and makes decision making easier,” Fisher said in an email to the Daily. “We are close to running out of space for our graduate students, and our undergraduates don’t have enough space for collaboration on homework and course projects.”
While budgetary concerns are being solved by delayed construction, the building's changing construction plans are creating new challenges for some Tufts staff members.
A September 2017 Daily article claiming that the the facility would be constructed near the Facilities Management building at 177 College Ave. now seems to be incorrect amid changing plans, impacting many of the workers who based in such locations.
According to Stein, preliminary construction for the Cummings project this summer includes work required to improve drainage and to demolish two small buildings, Facilities Management at 177 College Ave. and Office Services at 179 College Ave., which will render the current Facilities Management building next to Halligan Hall unusable.
Nils Reed, a facilities worker at Tufts, relayed his varying concerns amid Tufts’ ongoing construction projects. He said Facilities Services would be moving to the building at 520 Boston Ave., where they would be sharing the space with other facilities workers.
“Our current maintenance garage will be torn down by summer, gas pumps will be gone for Tufts vehicles. We will purchase fuel off campus,” Nils told the Daily in an electronic message. “Most of our equipment has been moved to [Harleston] Hall Garage. We will be operating out of there.”
For Nils and others, the uncertainty of construction and changing plans have exasperated the inconvenience posed by the impending demolition of the Facilities Services building, as well as the potential it creates for future problems.
“[We are] concerned about parking and overcrowding in the building,” Nils said. “It's a direct result of the Cummings building. The administration does not have a permanent location for us at the present time.”
More from The Tufts Daily
