By Dan Murphy
Representatives for Northeastern University were on hand for a virtual, city-sponsored public meeting on Monday, July 29, to discuss a proposal for a new Multipurpose Athletic Facility.
The proposed new facility will replace the longstanding Matthews Arena as the home to Northeastern’s men’s and women’s basketball and hockey programs, It would stand in the same location as the existing facility, on the east end of campus, at 238-262 St Botolph St.
The world’s oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest existing arena continuously used for ice hockey, the erstwhile Boston Arena opened at 238-262 St Botolph St. in 1910. It was the original home to the Boston Bruins, as well as to the Boston Celtics. The facility closed for more than two years following a 1918 fire, however, which was the impetus for its first major restoration.
Northeastern purchased the facility in 1979 and renamed it the Matthews Arena three years later when Northeastern alumnus George J. Matthews helped fund the first of the university’s several renovations of the building to date.
Meanwhile, the new facility will span 290,000 square feet across six stories (with only the bottom four floors being occupiable and the top two floors reserved for mechanicals), said Carla Morelli, Northeastern’s senior capital projects manager who is managing the project team, which includes architect, Boston-based Perkins&Will.
Inside the new facility, around 173,000 gross square feet will be devoted to the arena (which would still seat more than 4,000 spectators for hockey games) , as well as for public space, while about 117,000 gross square feet will accommodate student recreation and varsity practice space.
“Really the building is trying to do a lot of things for a lot of people,” said Morelli, who added the new facility would essentially be an arena with a field house on its roof. The new facility would likely be open 18 hours a day, seven days a week, she said.
The main entrance for the new facility would be located at the corner of St. Botolph and Gainsboro streets, said Morelli, while an existing loading dock would be shifted to the left at the new facility, adjacent to the public alley.
The exterior of the new facility would comprise ironspot brick, among other elements, said Morelli, in an effort to merge modern and traditional styles. The building would also have a ‘generous’ setback on Gainsboro Street to create a public plaza and seating area, she said.
The proposed new athletics facility comes in anticipation of Northeatern’s plans to file its next 10-year Institutional Master Plan (IMP) with the city. The university’s last IMP in 2013 has been extended five times to date, most recently for the residence hall at 840 Columbus Ave., said Cory Berg, Northeastern’s director of campus planning.
The next IMP proposes eight redevelopment sites totaling approximately 2.2 million square feet of new construction, six of which were included in the 2013 IMP. The new sites are White Hall at 17-23 Forsyth St. and the UR Complex, respectively, said Berg, while the Matthews Arena was among the six previously included sites.
Moreover, the next IMP also identifies a number of existing buildings for proposed renovation, including Hurtig Hall; Robinson Hall; Ell Hall; Hayden Hall; Churchill Hall; Stetson East & West; 300 Massachusetts Ave.; Renaissance Park; and Dodge Hall, added Berg.
The public comment period for Northeastern’s proposed, new Multipurpose Athletic Facility closes on Friday, Aug. 2, per the city’s Planning Department, but community engagement will continue through this fall and into next spring.
For more information, visit the city’s project page at https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/northeastern-university-matthews-arena-project.