Beacon Hill Community Embraces Plans for Somerset Street Art Center

By KC Cohen

BEACON HILL—After Beacon Hill residents blocked previous efforts by Suffolk University to expand on 20 Somerset St., the parties have agreed on the school’s plan to build a $68 million academic center on the site.

“The neighborhood is happy with the way the school is approaching it,” said Karin Mathieson, director of constituent relations for the City Councilor Michael Ross. “There were reservations at first, but feedback on the design at this point is positive.”

The 10-story glass center will replace the former Metropolitan District Commission building and serve mainly as a new home for Suffolk’s New England School of Art and Design, now in the Back Bay. It will also include general classroom space.

Residents defeated Suffolk’s earlier proposal to build a dormitory on the site, fearing a traffic increase and an influx of undergraduates to the neighborhood.

“We were concerned for a while,” said Suzanne Besser, executive director of the Beacon Hill Civic Association. “But we entered into an agreement with the administration, and they agreed not to expand the university farther into the community.”

Beacon Hill residents opposed the dormitory project after the university failed to take the effect on the community into account, said Gerald Autler, Boston Redevelopment Agency senior manager.

“Beacon Hill is not a neighborhood that is used to giving up without a fight, so they mobilized,” Autler said. “But Suffolk convinced people that they would address their concerns and that this project would be an asset to the community, and the opposition disappeared.”

A committee of Beacon Hill residents and Suffolk representatives will meet four times a year to discuss the project’s progress.

The school has met with Beacon Hill residents for 20 months and included their input in the final proposal, said Elizabeth Leary, manager of government and community affairs for Suffolk University.

The building will include LED digital art displays and a sidewalk show of students’ work, said Alex Krieger, the building’s architect. The university will also add seating and trees to the nearby Garden of Peace.

“The plan benefits the school and the community,” said William Onuoha, neighborhood coordinator and District 8 representative. “That area needs a facelift.”

The university has recently signed an agreement with the Beacon Hill Civic Association and the Boston Redevelopment Agency to discontinue its purchase of Beacon Hill buildings.

“Suffolk has made decisions that were not easy but really will pay off in the long run,” Autler said. “People have started to see their presence as something that could benefit the community.”