Anyone remember that dorm the university contracted a private company to buy and build on the YMCA? The one with the June 2011 construction start date? The one that was supposed to house 720 students, offer new classrooms and more activity space? No?
Well, 10 months after Phoenix Construction Company was supposed to break ground, it seems the administration has forgotten too, or just doesn’t feel the need to let students in on the progress they’ve made. Nope, Senior Vice President for City and Community Affairs John Tobin was a no-show for two scheduled interviews with The News earlier this semester. In his stead, Associate Director of Communications Lucy Warsh McGowan wrote The News saying, “There’s no real new news to report at this time.” The YMCA’s official statement reads, “We do not have any new information to share at this time.” Phoenix Construction Company declined to speak on the matter.
The only thing that comes close to a progress report is a loose estimation from a YMCA official that construction may start within the next 18 months. Oh, good. That’s up to 28 months – two and one third years – after the planned start date. This project was supposed to be finished by September 2013.
The end date isn’t arbitrary. The university needs to get its Institutional Master Plan (IMP) – a blueprint of sorts for the next 10 years of the university’s development – approved by the city before December 31 of this year. Northeastern promised the city an additional 1,800 beds before August. International Village has fulfilled 1,200, but the other 600 have not been delivered yet.
A few members of the community rallied initially to stop construction on the grounds of historical preservation but were rejected, which leaves the student body with the simple, unanswered question: Why hasn’t construction started yet?
And where has the “Voice of the Student Body” been? Student Government Association hasn’t publicly come out against the administration in the 10 months this project has been delayed. Yet, still, in meetings with the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Bruce Ronkin and other university officials senators have brought up overcrowding as something the university could work on. A new 17-story dorm with 720 new beds seems like a good start to fixing that problem. Where’s the Sense of the Senate (a written document expressing senate support or opposing an issue)? How could an organization that claims to represent the student body let a question like this go unanswered for 10 months. If students don’t put pressure on the administration to give them more space, who will?
