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Skating Club of Boston Public Meeting 1240 Soldier’s Field Road Monday, March 30th 2015 Meeting convened at 6:30 PM
The Skating Club of Boston is looking to build a new facility on Lincoln Street in Brighton. The new facility would have 3 ice rinks and involve a land swap with Harvard.
The Skating Club did a feasibility study on the facility containing 2 rather than 3 rinks and found that the 3 rink proposal is the best way to make this work financially. The BRA’s own study and data corroborated this finding. This is not an endorsement by the BRA, just findings on the feasibility of the project financially.
The comment period for this project ends on April 13th.
About the Skating Club of Boston: This team here knows how to host events and manage parking There were 300-400 skaters here yesterday, the club secured overflow parking and it was barely needed The Skating Club of Boston has been in Brighton since 1939 The Club has produced many national and international champions throughout the years Over 250 children from Allston Brighton skate here Half of the employees are from Allston Brighton The Club needs more ice to meet the demand
The Project: The new building will be on Lincoln St. between Everett and the proposed Telford St. expansion. The developer moved the building over to make room for the Telford St expansion and a sidewalk There will be 200 parking spaces on site Access to the building will be off Lincoln Street The building is 50 feet tall in the middle and 35 feet on both sides- existing building is 54 feet There are three different entrances o Event entrance o Day-to-day entrance (for most users) o Rental group entrance
There will be a lot of added sidewalks and landscaping Will not impact the Holton Street warehouse There will be some bike parking and possibly a hubway station There have been extensive transportation and parking studies The proposed billboard has been removed Secured overflow parking from Charlesview-125 spaces There will also be shuttle buses for events On a typical day the parking demand is about 100 spaces If there is Skating Academy happening there is demand for about 190 spaces If there is hockey demand is for about 179 spaces o There is only 1 rink that can be used for hockey, the other 2 will be figure skating only When there is peak ice activity (all 3 rinks being used) and the function space in use there is demand for about 312 spaces o If there were only 2 rinks it would still be over 200 spaces with the function space How are we going to get people to park where we want them to? If there is an event, the tickets will tell them where to park; they will need to get tickets stamped at that location to gain access to the event. Events that require overflow parking will be ticketed There will be two types of tickets for these events o Tickets for parking on site and at Charlesview o Tickets for parking in one of the Harvard has committed 400 parking spaces to the club for overflow There are concerns about speed and safety on Everett St. and Lincoln St. o The Everett St. driveway will be chained and will only be open during large events when there is a police detail to direct traffic The Skating Club would support a resident lead action for more resident parking on surrounding streets.
Community Benefits: Will be open for public skating- will try to complement other skating venues in the area to maximize the amount of public skating hours in AB There will be a 50% discount for AB residents Complimentary free skate 4 times a year (once each quarter) Community themed party once a year There will be 50 Skating Academy scholarships available each year There will be skill session for youth hockey players as well as some youth hockey practices and games-- these programs can vary year to year Skating in the Schools program- partnership with local schools for education and instructional programming There will be a committee made up of staff as well as community members deciding how ice time can be allocated (for example to youth hockey groups) Really want to focus on the AB community
Questions/Comments The city and the BRA should really look at a broader parking plan for the areas with high rates of development rather than going street by street driven by residents Will there be college games? o Probably no colleges, we would prioritize high school and youth teams. We only have bench seating for about 500 people. College teams would be a very low priority for us Any thoughts about getting boards to split up the rinks to create smaller mini-rinks, some of the other rinks in the area have them. Often used for ‘mite hockey (8 and under) o We haven’t talked about it yet. It’s a great idea but we’re not sure we’d be able to store them when they’re not in use How will the building be lit up at night? I imagine the Pike side will stay lit but what about the other sides in the neighborhood o The Pike side will be lit up but the other light will not spill over into the neighborhood, we have to keep the parking lot lit for safety reasons but we will try to contain the light to the property Will there be access to the new commuter rail station? o Not sure about any plans for that Is there still a phase 2 to this project? o No, no more phase 2 We will try to beautify the area around the Everett St. bridge and maintain the changes on the bridge What about speeding on Everett St. leading up to the bridge? o Not sure what else we can do there, maybe add crosswalks to parts of Everett St. How late do events usually run? o Everything is usually finishing up around 8 and then there are some much lighter uses later at night Will you have security? o We don’t currently but we probably will in that location The city will be working on improvements to Everett St. maybe you can collaborate with them So 2 or 3 rinks? o This proposal is for 3 rinks Will you plan to expand in the future o No, definitely no plans for expansion We appreciate that you’ve made changes that the community thought were important and that you continue to take our voices into consideration We appreciate that you see the impact of special events on the community and are planning to mitigate that What about the pavement/parking lot? o We will use pervious pavement to address environmental and drainage issues
A child in the crowd commented that he thinks it should be built and is excited for the opportunities here-- family are abutters Will you use union workers? o Yes, we are working with Suffolk but I think regardless we will be using union labor Where will the construction workers park? o We will work with the BRA on a construction workers parking plan Will you put solar panels on this building? o Yes Possible start date? o Hopefully within a year What about this current building? o We will lease it during construction on the new facility but it will belong to Harvard
This project could come the BRA board in April on the 16th
This will need to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals for the height of the building
They will also need to go in front of a neighborhood group (probably BAIA)