Page 42 - College Planning & Management, July/August 2017

Facilities CAMPUS SPACES
Transforming BU Castle
From a heritage building to daily-use venue for alumni, faculty and students, an iconic mansion undergoes historic restoration for new life as an alumni center.
BY REBECCA BERRY, AIA, LEED-AP BD+C
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WITH HERITAGE buildings face accessibility, infrastructure and use pattern challenges around their historic structures.
Solidly constructed, but requiring significant rehab to render functional, administrators and facilities managers struggle with how best to leverage them. The Boston University (BU) Castle is one such icon that is now seeing a new — and vibrant — life. The 15,371-square-foot project preserves a beloved campus icon while creating contemporary uses and a home away from home for the college’s vast alumni network. It also creates flexible meeting space and refreshes the BU Pub. Construction will be complete in the Fall of 2018.
One of Boston’s iconic mansions from a bygone era, the Castle was originally constructed in 1915 for William Lindsey, a promi- nent Boston industrialist. Plans were drawn in 1904, and the mansion was completed in 1915 for a cost of more than $500,000. In 1926, Oakes Ames purchased the Castle and he, along with University Trustees Dr. and Mrs. William E. Chenery, donated the mansion to BU in 1939. Until 1967, it was home to BU’s presidents. Since then, the Castle has been used for university lectures, gatherings and outside events such as weddings, with the beloved BU Pub — an English-style pub that is the only BU- operated drinking establishment on campus — located in
its basement level. However, a lack of accessibility and the
42 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JULY/AUGUST 2017
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