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Survivor: UMass Boston Garage Edition

As Tim Lavallee pointed out, those familiar with UMass Boston knew the garage was a tragedy in waiting.  Today’s Globe quotes UMass Boston machinist Tom Goodkind: "We always joked that it would take someone's death to get them to do something about the garage, and now they finally have."

Even scarier is this May 1, 2005 Globe entry concerning a "large piece" of the garage that fell on a car: 

At a public forum Wednesday afternoon, [candidate for then vacant UMB chancellor’s post Marvin] Krislov…was asked by a staff member if he had seen the decaying garage that doubles as a foundation for much of the campus. (A recent Globe story about the garage quoted a professor who said job candidates are kept away from the crumbling structure.) ''I've seen it, I'm aware of it, and it would be a high priority," Krislov answered. Within minutes of the exchange, a retired professor at the meeting was quietly taken aside by UMass officials and told that a large piece of concrete had just fallen on her car in the garage, cracking the windshield and denting the roof.

Quick poll – What disturbs you most about the UMass Boston Garage fiasco?  The serious concern joke about the garage as a potential cause of death?  The “large piece of concrete” that would have been fatal if it hit a professor rather than only a professor's car?  That it took several years of falling concrete and Milena Del Valle’s death to close the garage.  Or is it that the garage “doubles as a foundation for much of the campus” as UMass struggles to get sufficient funding for repairs?
 

(I wonder how this effects the proposed minor league baseball stadium adjacent to UMass? Maybe the Commonwealth should run the team and use the profits to fund UMass's facility repairs?)

Earlier:
Speaking of the Ward Commission
What happens when you use inferior concrete 

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Comments

It's the red-headed step-child of the public university system. If this garage situation existed at Amherst...

That said, I laughed at the suggestion of using the minor league team to pay for the repairs. UMB charges for parking JUST to pay for the garage repairs and the school's shuttle system to the JFK/UMass station. The buses are older than dirt and worse than any MBTA bus.

A couple of years ago the school increased the fee from $3 for 90 minutes or more to $5 for 90 minutes or more JUST to pay for garage repairs and the shuttle. Now they are considering another fee increase!

Oh, and they got $50 million in construction money to repair the foundation/garage earlier this year!

I chose UMB because, at the time (2000) it was a value in every aspect, including parking. But after that fee increase, it killed me every time I had to pay to park. It was one of the things I didn't miss when by finishing my degree online.

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Don't they have the Leaning Tower of Books, i.e., a library that is no longer level?

And UMass-Worcester used to be famous for its leaks.

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Were they built by Bechtel?

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McKee-Berger-Mansueto.

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They were responsible for UMass-Boston, of course.

And the UMass Library isn't tilted. It has (had? Maybe they've fixed it) a problem with bricks (it is the world's tallest brick-faced library) falling off.

But, lookee here: They also have problems with concrete!

The main floor has had significant leaks for many years due to the fact that the building is capped with a failed concrete pedestrian plaza.

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Although I have no illusions that Massachusetts could run a profitable minor league baseball team, my comment was only half in jest. Seeing BU's Agganis Arena host concerts, etc, I wish that UMB had a way to use university resources to tap into alternative revenue streams. I know that UMB rents out the campus center, but its use is limmited. Access to UMB isn't great at rush hour, but its proximity to the highway and the T make it a great location for events during off peak times and days that there isn't construction on Morrisey.

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They do host the Boston Folk Festival every September. (Wonder what effect the garage closing will have on this event.)

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I bet that UMass will use the Bayside Expo for overflow parking (if space permits).

The Folk Festival is a cool event, but I don't think it is a revenue powerhouse, and I bet any profit goes to the radio station. Agganis can draw popular national acts and make money with concessions and alcohol. With Agganis, DCU, and the Tsongas, I don't know that the area needs another arena, but it can't be that hard to come up with a good idea for UMass to get the most out of their location.

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And Northeastern has the venerable Matthews Arena, but I don't think they ever rent it out for non-athletic events.

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...because it is old-time Boston. Babe Ruth used to play amature hockey at Matthews in the offseason.

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