Bosse Calls for Review of Roxbury Park Master Plan

Councilwoman Lili Bosse called on her city colleagues Wednesday to reconsider their approval of phase one of the proposed Roxbury Park Master Plan, saying that she had uncovered new details about the plan that have prompted her to question whether it is worth the proposed $14 million expense.

“I hope my colleagues rethink this [plan],” she said at a Municipal League gathering of about 100 residents.

The plan’s first phase calls for tearing down the current community center and building a new, 27,000-foot, two-level center. There would be new features such as a gymnasium, expanded library space, more meeting rooms, a study room and game room for teens, and a senior room with an outdoor patio.

The City Council approved the master plan in 2008, when Bosse was not on the council. The same council approved spending $844,600 on August 31, 2010, to hire Hirsch and Associates as architects for the project.

Bosse questioned why the customary Environmental Impact Report for the plan was never conducted, and said she did not agree with the EIR exemption granted in July 2008. Based on her experience as former head of the city’s Planning Commission, she said that city projects usually receive an EIR.

“Whenever we do a big project in the city, there is always an EIR to address the traffic impact, parking circulation and noise impacts, especially when it is right next to a residential area,” she said.

City officials, most recently at a presentation , have maintained it would cost $13 million to renovate the park and bring it up to current building codes, while building a new facility would be around $14 million.

Bosse, however, said she discovered that this $13 million estimate included adding an 11,000-square foot multipurpose room at $425 a square foot. Should the $4.67 million cost of this new room be cut from the renovation estimate, renovating the current facilities would cost about $8.6 million, much less than the $14 million to build anew.

The councilwoman listed other facts from the master plan that she said were not well-known. For example, the current community center has 3,412 square feet of meeting rooms, while the proposed new building would have 500 square feet less of meeting space. The new facility would have two bathroom facilities—one on each floor—but the total bathroom space would be close to the current bathroom facilities.

Bosse also questioned why the new center’s parking plans incorporate 129 offsite spots, many of which are metered. Some of those spots, such as the ones on Olympic Boulevard bordering the park, do not allow parking during the morning or evening rush hours.

When she served on the planning commission, “We never counted street parking, as you can’t assume those spaces are going to be available …Parking needs to be calculated exactly for the use of the building,” she said. The city told her, however, that since it is a city building, street parking could be counted.

Bosse’s remarks were well-received by an audience that seemed leery of the need for such an extensive renovation. During the question and answer period, many residents asked why some members of the council were not listening to those who were against the project.

Mayor Barry Brucker, a chief proponent of the master plan, told Patch that this particular audience was not representative of the entire community’s views.

“The [master] plan is popular among seniors, among teens and among youth sport leagues, like the AYSO [American Youth Soccer Organization],” he said.

Brucker, who took notes during Bosse’s presentation, also disputed her parking comments.

“We always count public spots for city projects,” he said.

While Brucker agreed that street parking is limited during rush hours, he said that there is not peak demand for the park during the week.

“The prime usage times for the park are weekends and holidays, and that is when the street parking is most available,” he said.

Bosse’s presentation is unlikely to sway the council majority of Vice Mayor Willie Brien and Councilman Julian Gold, who support the project. Indeed, Gold openly supported the master plan during his recent run for City Council despite from former Councilwoman Nancy Krasne. Councilman John Mirish does not support the current master plan.

Brucker acknowledged that the plan could change by the time it is finalized by the council.

“Once we get bids for the project in the fall, it has to be approved by City Council again,” he said. “If there are components of the plan that seem too expensive or not worthwhile, we can drop them.”

Editor's Note: This story originally stated that the proposed Roxbury Park community center would be a 22,000-foot, two-level center. The text has been corrected to refelct that the plan calls for a 27,000-foot, two-level center.

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